


A Pale-Blue Awakening

by Sushion



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Alternate Character Interpretation, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dysphoria, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Tall and Small, Tiny!Robin, Trans Female Character, Trans My Unit | Reflet | Robin, Transphobia, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:54:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 231,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21737914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sushion/pseuds/Sushion
Summary: Marth's plan was simple: Go back to the past, prevent the disaster from happening, and then get out without being noticed. And joining Chrom on his journey to Ferox was definitely not in those plans. So what awaits those who exist when all tales end? An Awakening AU-Retelling with many elements from the other FE games returning, in many more ways than you'd expect.
Relationships: Chrom/Tiamo | Cordelia, Liz | Lissa/Maribelle, Lucina/My Unit | Reflet | Robin
Comments: 54
Kudos: 66
Collections: The Pale Blue Awakening Collection





	1. Id ~ Beginnings

_Year 1873, March 5,_

_Everything around her was dark. She struggled to open her eyes, feeling weak and out of energy._

"…We can't just leave her here, we have to do something."

_Huh? Who was that that she heard? Their voice was light, yet worried-sounding. She concentrated, trying to get her eyes to open._

"What do you propose we do?"

_That was someone else's voice. Deeper than the other voice, and smooth, too. Calmer than the other voice, too, yet still holding concern._

"I don't know!" the first voice said.

She finally opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was a young man on her left, a girl on her right, and a blue sky above. The young man was tall, and he looked to be around nineteen or twenty. His hair was slightly spiky and wild, going down to his neck. It was a deep shade of blue, the same color as his eyes. He wore a black shirt with only one sleeve which covered his left arm, and silver shoulder-guard covering said arm. The girl right beside him looked about seventeen or eighteen, and was a fair bit shorter than the blue-haired man. The first thing she thought of the girl was that she was very pretty. Her blonde hair was tied in two medium-length pigtails, and she wore a frilly, yellow dress with a frillier white apron on top, and a brown corset on top of that. There was a staff between her hands made of a brown, hard-looking wood which she held behind her back. Her eyes were the same color as the man on her left, perhaps they were siblings?

"You're awake!" the girl said. There was a smile on her face as she bent down on her knees, giving her a look a relief. The young man lowered his right arm down to her, motioning for her to grab it. There was some kind of mark on the top of his shoulder. It was a faint grey color, somewhat hard to notice if you weren't paying that much attention as it blended into his skin. It kind of looked like a flame on a pedestal to her.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know." the man said, smiling at her. She took his hand with her left, pulling herself upwards as she stumbled getting up.

"Hey, you okay?" the man said, putting a hand on her to keep her steady. The girl could see that at his side he carried a very long one-handed sword, sheathed in simple red leather.

"Yea… umm… thanks…" she said, taking a breath of the air of the open world. Her own voice was softer and lighter than the man's own, and even though the other girl's voice was fairly high-pitched, her own was still higher than that. She looked down at her clothes. She was wearing a white shirt with white pants, and a large, oversized black robe with gold-highlights on top of everything. There were purple lines tracing down the sleeves, sleeves which were so long that they hid most of her small, tiny hands and she had to roll them upwards just to see them in full. Her clothes felt a little heavy on her, but they were comfortable.

"What were you doing, lying on the ground in the middle of the road like that?" the blonde girl asked.

"Why was I on the ground?" she parroted. Why was she on the ground? She looked around trying to gather a sense for her surroundings. There was nothing but a single, lone tree behind her, and in front of her was a simple, brown dirt road. And beyond that was nothing but green grass as far as she could see, with a few cows and sheep here and there. This place didn't seem to be anywhere particularly important, so why was she here? "Umm, I don't know."

"You don't know? Maybe you're lost?" the girl said.

"Am I?" She furled her eyebrows and began to pout anxiously. "I think I actually am lost," she said, with uncertainty and some slight fear in her voice.

"Oh jeez, that's not good," the girl said, giving her a frown of concern.

"What's your name?" the young man asked.

"My name? It's… it's…" She closed her eyes as she tried to tap into the deeper corners of her mind in search of the answer. But no matter where she looked, there was nothing but a blankness in her head. She just couldn't remember what her name was. "I don't know that either," she said. That sense of uncertainty started to creep in, as if it was crawling down her back.

The blonde girl let out gasp. "You can't remember your name? Do you even remember anything at all?"

She shook her head. "No, nothing..." Try as she might, she could not recall even a single memory.

"No memory huh…" The blonde girl put a finger on her chin, muttering something to herself. "I'm sure I've read about that before somewhere…" She continued to whisper her thoughts out loud before eventually shaking her head, turning to the blue-haired man. "But first, what do you think we should do?"

"Well, we shouldn't just leave her here," the man said. "Let me think of something." Just then, another man started running in their direction from the left side of the road. He was perhaps in his early-mid twenties, with dark-brown hair and wearing a black, fancy-looking suit. Resting on his back was a long, silver-ish lance.

"Milord, who is this? And why did you run off towards her?" the brown-haired man said as he reached them. He leered at her, giving her a very stern look that she couldn't help but tense up at. Instinctively, she grabbed behind her neck, pulling the robe's hood over her head and pulling the sides inwards to help hide her face. She took a step back, stepping behind the blonde girl in hopes of avoiding his gaze, who sadly did not let up. The blonde girl seemed to notice her with a slight turn of her neck, but only smiled at her warmly, looking back at the man who approached them as she put two fingers on her forehead. That smile made her feel somewhat safer, around the girl at least.

"Liz and I are trying to find that out right now, to be honest, Freddy," the blue-haired man answered. She guessed that Milord was his name, which would make Liz the other girl's name, and Freddy the name of the other man. "See the thing is, she doesn't know a single thing about herself. She has no memories, and she doesn't even remember her name."

"A person with no memory of herself?" Freddy let out a scoff. "I find that hard to believe. What kind of person wakes up in the middle of nowhere without their memory?"

"Well, to be honest, there are stranger things that have happened," Milord said.

Liz suddenly sprung up, pointing her two fingers into the air in a flash of insight. "Wait, I remember it now, she has amnesia!"

"Amnesia?" the hooded girl asked, moving from behind the girl to just beside her. She pulled down her hood, looking Liz in the eyes with curiosity. "What's amnesia? And why do I have it?"

"Well, I'm not a doctor, yet, but you can't remember anything from your past, right?" Liz said. "Like who you are, where you're from and other stuff?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding as she followed along.

"That's called amnesia, and that's probably what you have," Liz said.

"Amnesia, I see… Thank you, Liz," the girl said, nodding again in thanks.

"No problem, we're gonna help you out, okay?" Liz put a hand on her head, patting it and ruffling her hair as she flashed a smile. The girl let out a giggle, finding out quickly that she was rather ticklish.

"Hehehe!" she laughed.

"Daww, that's adorable," Liz said.

The girl squeaked, putting a hand over her mouth. "Eep, thankyou," she said rather quickly.

"Hmm…" Freddy crossed his arms, giving her a look that said he was unconvinced, though saying nothing else.

"Alright then, that makes sense," Milord said, turning to the hooded girl. "So, I'm thinking we should take you to the village up ahead. There, we can sort you out and find out what to do with you."

"Oh, yes please. Thank you very much," the girl said, nodding again. She really didn't know what to do right now, but if they would help her, maybe things would be okay.

"Sounds like a plan!" Liz said, patting her on the back. "Come on!"

"Alright, let's head out!" Milord and the other two started heading towards the right side of the road, and she followed them accordingly.

As they were reaching the village up ahead, a young boy started to head their way. He seemed close to Liz in age, and wore a simple blue-shirt with brown pants and a bronze sword at his side. The most notable thing about him was the pot he held on his head like a helmet, hiding his curled purple-black hair.

"Excuse me, sirs, ma'ams! Our village needs help!" the boy said, pleading with his hands. He pointed behind him, where the amnesiac girl could see smoke coming out of a medium-sized village. "We're being raided by bandits! I want to fight them off, but I'm only one farmboy against a whole bunch of them!"

"Bandits? Crap, Freddy, looks like we were right." Milord drew his sword, looking at Freddy who drew his lance. "We'll save your village. What's your name?"

"Donny, sir! I'll lead the way!" The boy gestured for them to follow as he sprinted back the way he came.

"Right," Milord said in agreement. "Change of plans, everyone! We're saving the village first before we help this girl out! Ready for your first mission, Liz?"

"Of course I am!" she said, raising her staff in the air with both her hands. "I didn't just get bitten by five mosquitos in the hot sun for nothing!" The three of them rushed after the boy, making their way to the village up ahead.

"Hey, wait!" the amnesiac girl said, trying to catch up to the four as they all entered the entrance doors to the village. The place seemed bigger on the inside than on the outside, for starters, with several bridges and canals filled with water, leading to a sandy beach further down south. There were small fires scattered around everywhere, on the roofs, the floor, and on several carts and wagons. Several shops and stalls had already been broken or set aflame, looted of all their wares. Off in the distance, she could see one big flame, with a giant smokestack rising from it.

"Okay, here's the plan." Milord said as everyone stopped running. He turned around, looking at all of them. "Freddy, you're strong enough to take down most of the stray bandits. Take them out and have Liz follow behind to patch up anyone we can rescue. I'm going straight after their leader to put an end to this."

"Of course, Milord," Freddy said, nodding to Liz as they both headed off to the left.

"And what about me and this girl, sir?" Donny said, looking nervous yet eager to help.

"Can either of you fight?" Milord asked.

"Whatever my pa' taught me." The boy took the pot off his head, gripping it like a makeshift shield as he lifted his blade up, swinging it back down. "I know a thing or two about slashin' and blockin'."

Milord nodded, turning to the amnesiac girl. "And you? Do you have a weapon?"

"Umm… I need to check." She checked her left pocket on the inside of her hood, pulling out a small, golden dagger. It was lightweight, beautiful and ornate. It was like it was made for her, it even fit perfectly within her tiny hands. She gripped it softly, and she was washed with a warm, gentle feeling that made her want to cling to it.

"My-my, that's a mighty fine dagger you got there!" Donny said, eyeing her dagger with a wide smile and a starry look.

"You think that, too?" she asked.

"It sure is!" he said with excitement in his voice. "May I see it later after we're done please? I'd like to see how beautiful it is up close!"

"If you think so, sure." A shy smile formed on her lips. Donny seemed like a rather friendly person, and Milord did too. She was thankful that they were the first few people she met.

"It is a neat dagger, but I'm not sure if a dagger like that will be all that helpful," Milord said, shaking his head. "Do you have anything else?"

"Umm." She checked her other pocket, pulling out a small book with a yellow cover with some kind of symbol on it. "Does this count?" she said, raising the book to show the two boys.

"Sweet!" Donny gave her a toothy grin. "You got yourself a magic tome, too! You sure are lucky!"

"A magic tome?" she asked.

"It's a book that will let you shoot magic out of it!" he explained. "You know how to use it, right?"

She shrugged, shaking her head. "I don't know, maybe? What's magic?"

"You don't know what magic is?" Milord said with a confused look. "Well then it'll probably just be better if you stayed a safe distance from the fight. Donny, you're with me, make sure to avoid killing people. And watch your surroundings, both of you."

"Alright, sir!" Donny nodded, and the two of them started to run ahead towards the giant smokestack. The girl did as instructed, running a few feet behind them as they made their way across a bridge over water. After crossing another bridge, they reached the building where the smoke was coming from, finding it being torched ablaze by a big, burly looking man. A bandit was what Milord and Donny called them. He gave them a nasty look, scrunching his face up as he let out a loud shout.

"Men, get the man and his children!" He pointed at them, signaling for two men standing beside him to charge at them.

"I'm only nineteen! And they're like eighteen!" Milord said, letting out a sigh as he rushed at them alongside Donny. A bandit swung at him, only for him to duck below the swing as he delivered a series of blows to the bandit's head. Donny bashed another one of the bandit's heads with the side of his pot, striking him down with the butt of his sword. After a few more strikes from Donny and Milord, both bandits were taken out just as swiftly as they entered the fight. Their fighting sure was impressive, the girl thought as she hid behind a damaged wagon cart, watching the two take out another two bandits together.

"Come on, lets get him." Milord said, pointing to the man up ahead.

"Alright!" Donny agreed, and the three of them approached the man who sent the bandits after them, with the girl trailing slightly behind for her own safety.

"You there, you must be the leader," Milord said as he pointed his long, thin sword at him. "Tell us, what have you come to this village for?"

"Oh you know, I'm just here to spread the good word of Naga! Have you come for a sermon about her teachings?" the man said in a very sarcastic tone of voice. "I'm a fucking bandit, what else am I here for?" He heaved his heavy, two-handed axe effortlessly over his back, waiting for them to approach. The girl wondered who exactly was this Naga, but washed those thoughts away as she focused on the two men speak.

"Well your days of spreading the good word are over now. You're down four men, and my friends are clearing you all out as we speak." Milord raised his blade, taking on an aggressive looking stance. "I'll give you one chance to surrender peacefully and quietly."

"Nah, I think I'll just save me some trouble and smash your skulls open." The man lowered his axe, sending it crashing into the stone underneath his feet. "Name's Garrick! Remember it when my axe goes through your skull!" He raised his axe back upwards, this time aiming it at the three of them as he charged in their direction.

"Donny! Get ready!" Milord said, rushing at the bandit as they clashed their blades together.

"Yeah!" Donny said with a nod as he followed after Chrom. The bandit took the both of them on, not giving either of them an edge in the fight when he thrusted his axe forwards, striking Donny's metal pot and sending it flying away.

"My shield!" Donny said. The bandit leader then flipped his axe around, striking Donny across the face with the pole end of his axe. Donny groaned as he fell to the floor, receiving a second jab to the stomach from Garrick which made him cough violently.

"Oh no!" the girl squeaked, tightening her grip on her dagger and book as she took a step closer to Donny out of worry.

"Donny! No!" Milord stretched his arm out, rushing over to protect Donny. The bandit leader glanced at him and quickly threw his axe at Milord's stomach, striking him with the axe's pole side. Milord found himself winded, collapsing to the floor with a groan as the bandit leader picked up Donny by the shirt.

"Say your prayers, farm boy!" He hoisted him into the air pulling out a knife from his pocket. He gave Donny an evil-looking grin, bringing the blade closer to him in a slow, sadistic manner.

"Donny!" she shouted in horror of the sight. Her shock then transformed into furious anger as she realized she needed to save both him and Milord. A burst of adrenaline swelled through her as she sprinted towards the man, gripping her golden dagger as she cut him across the face with a swipe. "Kyaa!" she shouted, driving her dagger all the way up his cheek and across the leftmost part of his eye, leaving him with a massive scar.

"Fucking hell, you bastard!" The bandit leader wailed in pain as he let go of Donny who dropped to the floor on his feet, gasping for air as he struggled to gather himself. But unfortunately for the girl, just as quickly as he let go of Donny, the bandit leader grabbed her hand, wresting her dagger out of her fingers as he locked her arms in a bind, making her drop her book as well.

"Gah!" she screamed in pain as her chest was being crushed. She struggled and flailed around as she kicked her feet several times at the man's chest, but none of them seemed to make the man so much as flinch.

"You think you're funny, tiny lady? You're about to be in for a world of hurt!" The man said. Dread started to seep into her heart as she found herself being risen into the air. "This is what you get for my eye!" The man shifted his grip to her waist, still crushing her viciously as he readied her like a weapon, ready to slam her head downwards like he did his axe.

"Heeeelp!" she screamed her loudest as she struggled to break out of his grip. She did everything she could, throwing kicks at him, trying to land punches. With how high he raised her, though, barely any of them could reach him, and the ones that did reach her did nothing to stop him. "Someone help me! Helphelphelpmeeee!" She closed her eyes as she screamed, when all of the sudden she heard a quick, yet sharp zapping noise. Out of nowhere the man let out a scream, letting go of her just before he'd send her crashing into the hard stone floor. She fell to the floor with a painful landing on her back, yet one that was safe by comparison.

"Oww!" she said, scampering away from the man as quickly as she could like a salamander on all fours. She got up and turned around to see the bandit leader groaning in agony, stumbling backwards as he clutched his neck in pain.

"What the hell, how'd you fry my neck?" the bandit leader said as he snarled at her. He covered his left eye, looking very winded from her attacks.

"I fried your neck?" she said, exhausted and shaken up by the painful experience. She hunched over, gasping for air when her eyes widened as she took a look at her left hand. There were bright yellow sparks crackling on top of her finger tips, snapping and popping as they danced around her palm. "Eep! What's on my hand? Why is it on me? Help!" She shook her hand up and down, trying to get them off her arm.

"Dang, you really do know how to use magic after all, heheh." Donny was the one who spoke, moving over to her. "And thunder magic no less!"

"Thunder magic?" she asked, turning to him.

"No need to be scared of it! It won't bite you, but you can bet your butt that it'll bite your enemies!" He looked at her with a smile that beamed like the sun. "You're really amazing, you know that?"

"I, I am?" Reflet felt her cheeks getting warm as she smiled back at him.

"It was mighty kind of you to save me like that, I'm sorry for dragging you into that mess." Donny played with his hair, his own cheeks turning red as he lowered his head.

"It's okay, you would have done the same for me, right?" she said.

"Of course I would!"

"Hey you two, focus!" Milord said as he got off his feet. He held onto his chest for just a moment before readying his blade with both hands. "He's weak, let's finish him off!" He then walked over to them, turning to her. "And you, can you use your magic again?"

"Can I?" she said, staring back at the sparks in her palm. She closed her eyes, looking inside herself as she searched for the answer. She thought of creating more sparks, and pushing her own energy outside of her body. And sure enough, when she opened her eyes the sparks had grown brighter as the crackling turned violent, ready to be slung.

"Good, now fire at him!" Milord said.

"Me?" The girl nodded, taking a deep breath as she raised her palm upwards. She stretched it out towards the man on the ground, holding her arm steady with her other hand. "Thunder!" she said as the bolt fired off from her palm, shining through the air as it surged its way towards the man's chest. Even though she lacked her memory, it felt familiar to say, as if she said it hundreds of times before. The bolt struck the bandit, making him curse as he tilted his head back. She fired a bolt again and again as she continued to strike him in the chest, singeing his clothes and boring through them as the man fell down, limping over as he laid there.

"Bastard… woman…" the man said before he slipped into unconsciousness. By now her body was sore and she completely spent her energy, and she could see tha Donny and Chrom were just as tired as she was. They walked over to the now defeated man, with each of them taking a seat on the floor in front of him. The village seemed a lot quieter now. The flames around the city were dying out, and there wasn't a bandit left fighting to cause trouble.

"We did it, great job you two!" Milord said, smiling at the two of them. "Things are starting to finally quiet down."

"Thanks," Donny said. "But what are we going to do with this guy here?"

"I guess we'll wait for Frederick to come back. Then we'll make this guy and his gang pay for his crimes." Chrom rubbed his back as he let out a yawn. "You two were pretty impressive out there. Was this a first battle for either of you?"

"I can't say for her, but that's true for me," Donny said. "But before my dad died, he left me with plenty of training. I actually want to be just like him, you see. It's my dream to fight and protect people. I want to go to the capital and get myself some kind of job there."

"That's a really noble dream, Donny," Milord said. "I hope you one day achieve it, and be the best man you can be."

"Yeah, you got this, Donny," the girl added, nodding to him.

Donny put a hand on his head as he looked at the two in embarrassment. "Aww, shucks, thanks."

"And you?" Milord said, turning to her.

"Umm… maybe?" Reflet said with confusion in her voice. "I wouldn't know, but I don't think I've ever been through something like this." All this fighting wasn't something the girl was expecting to do today. Though, considering her amnesia, she didn't really have anything to expect. She was just glad it was all over.

"Well, you sure proved yourself out there!" Donny said. "You're a real hero!" He quickly pat her on the back, making her let out a squeak.

"Eep, A hero?" she said, a nervous smile growing on her face as she looked back to him.

"Of course you are! You saved my life out there, and we all just saved my hometown! I think we should all be proud of that!" Donny smiled at her, letting out a light laugh as he pat her on the back again.

"Right, you two really helped carry the day," Milord said, giving them a smile. "Donny's right, you should feel proud."

"A hero…" She let out a quiet giggle. Did she really count as a hero? She didn't think so herself, but it was a nice thought. "I don't know if I am, but thank you, you two."

"So what are you going to do now, Milord?"

"Milord?" Milord scrunched his eyebrows, confused by her saying that.

"Umm, isn't that your name?" she said, awkward and unsure of herself.

"Pfft," he let out through his lips. "No, it's Chrom." He and Donny started to snicker in amusement over her mistake.

"Oh," she said, embarrassed at her mistake. "I kept hearing the other guy say it, so I thought that was your name."

"Don't worry about it, it's alright." Chrom put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, letting out one final snicker. "But yes, my name is Chrom. Freddy, or Frederick, works for me, and that's why he calls me Milord, but you don't have to call me that. You can just call me Chrom."

"Alright, Chrom," she said with a smile. She made sure she would remember the name Chrom, always.

"So, have you remembered anything else yet?" Chrom asked.

She frowned, trying to think but only to again come up empty-handed. "Still nothing…"

"Wait, excuse me," Donny said. "But what do you mean by her not remembering anything?"

"According to my sister, Liz, this small girl has lost all her memories," Chrom said. "Even her own name."

Donny's mouth dropped open. "You don't have a name? I haven't asked yet 'cause we've been so busy, but I can't believe you don't have one. How do you feel about not having a name?"

"Well, I guess not knowing anything about myself has felt weird so far. Everything just feels empty." The amnesiac girl put a hand on her head as her thoughts returned to her lack of memory. It was true that she had Chrom and Liz to help her, but that didn't solve all her problems. "I just want to figure out who I am and what I'm supposed to do."

"Hmm…" Chrom played with his temple as he thought of something for a short time. "I think I've got an idea. What if I made you both Shepherds?"

"Shepherds, sir?" Donny asked. "What's that?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Reflet asked as well.

"I run this group with some of my other friends back in the capital, Iris," Chrom said. "Our jobs, so to speak, is to protect the peace from anyone who might try to harm the innocent. We also carry out orders from the Queen herself, Emmeryn. And when we're not doing that, we're usually helping other people out around the country."

"Really? Would we really get to fight bandits and save people again?" There were stars in Donny's eyes as he asked the question. He let out a chuckle, one which grew louder and louder with happiness. "Then I'd be able to live out my dream! Sir Chrom, it would mean so much to me if you could let me join!"

"Alright then!" he said, giving a high-five to Donny. "As I was saying, you two, Donny would be able to live out his dream. And you," he stopped, shifting his attention to the girl. "We would take care of you and everything you need."

"Wait, everything?" In one swoop, she was completely overwhelmed. She jolted back in her seat, playing with both her index fingers with a wry, nervous smile. "You would do that for me? Do you really mean that?"

"Of course, and Donny too. Not only will you two get food and clothes, but you'll even get your own place to sleep in. You'd even be getting paid, so you won't have to worry about looking for a job, either, because this would be your job."

"A room, food, and clothes? You'd really, really do that?" She really didn't know there'd be such kind people out there in the world. The girl didn't know what to say to such an offer.

"Of course!" Chrom said. "You're my friend. Both of you are."

The girl's mouth opened as she looked at him in disbelief. "I'm… We're friends?" They'd only just met, and they hardly know each other. But he considered her his friend?

"Am I really your friend, too, Sir Chrom?" Donny asked with similar disbelief.

"You both fought with me to protect the innocent. That alone is enough to earn my friendship. So yes, you two are already my friends." Chrom put a hand on her, then another on Donny as he looked at them, giving them a bright, warm smile. His words made the girl happier than the world itself.

"We're friends! Yes, I'll be your friend!" She let out a tiny, joyful squeal, leaning over to Chrom to hug him at the waist. Her knees bounced up and down while she sat cross-legged on the floor, too excited to contain herself.

"Heh!" Chrom laughed, wrapping his own arms around her shoulders. "Do you wanna hug, too?" Chrom asked Donny.

"Oh, sure! Hugs from friends are the best, you know!" Donny moved, giving the tightest hug to the two of them. "And we're friends, too!" Donny said to the girl. "For as long as we can be!"

"Eep!" the girl squeaked in delight, shifting one arm around Donny and hugging the both of them with even more force. She had not only one friend, but two friends now!

"Alright, so I'll set that up with Freddy later," Chrom said, being the first to end the hug as he turned to her. "But first, what should we do for your name? You still can't remember it, right? Then how about we come up with a name for you?"

"Come up with my own name?" the girl put a finger on her cheek. "I guess that could work. Sure, let's do it. Let's see," she said, closing her eyes as she thought of the first name that popped into her head. "How about Tobin?" she offered.

"Are you sure? I don't know about that one, let's keep looking." Chrom shook his head, coming up with one himself. "What about Lysithea? You kind of look like you'd be a Lysithea."

"That doesn't feel right, either," the girl said.

"What about Xander?" Donny added. "Xander would be a cool name for a girl like her, wouldn't you think?"

"True, but that makes me think she's like some kind of prince on horseback when clearly she's more of a tiny mage." Chrom said, turning to her. "But do you like it?"

"Nope, not really." She shook her head, rejecting yet another name. "I don't know, I just can't come up with any ones that are good, either."

"Don't worry your pretty little head none," Donny said, patting her back again. "I'm sure we'll find the perfect name for you."

"Pretty?" Reflet said, looking away from him as she grew shy. "You think I'm pretty?"

"Huh? Donny turned his head away from her, looking down as he scratched the scar on his cheek. "Well, yeah, sure you are. Here, take a look at your reflection." Donny went over to pick up his pot, her dagger and her book, putting the pot back on his head as he went over to her and handed her the dagger.

"Reflection?" she repeated.

"It's what you look like in the mirror. This dagger's shiny enough, it'll let you see yourself." Donny let go of the dagger, letting her raise the small weapon to her eyes. Within its golden blade, there was a girl with white hair that went down to her neck, messy hair which curled slightly at the ends. Her cheeks were soft, and her eyes were a deep yet light shade of violet. She thought she looked a little bit cute. She liked how she looked.

"My reflection…" she said, the word echoing in her brain with a beautiful ring to it. "Reflect… Reflet!" she said in a burst of insight. "I think I know my new name!"

"You do? What is it?" Donny said excitedly.

"Reflet, like 'reflection!" she said. It sounded perfect to her, she was going to be Reflet!

"Heh, it is a mighty cute name, Reflet!" Donny smiled, hugging her again. "I'm glad you picked a name you really like!"

"Yeah, it's great!" Chrom said. "I'm glad we got that sorted out." He hugged them one more time, after which they heard the voice of Freddy calling out.

"Milord, the other bandits have been taken care of!" Freddy shouted, approaching from the bridge they crossed earlier.

"Alright!" Chrom shouted back. "I'll be right back!" he said to the two of them, breaking the hug to go see Freddy.

"Ooh, can I come?" Donny said.

"Come on!" Chrom gestured for him to follow, and the two of them left her behind, leaving her to sit all alone on the floor by herself. Reflet turned back to her dagger, staring once more into her reflection.

"Reflet," she said with a giggle. "Reflet. So… I'm Reflet?" she said to herself in the mirror. "And that's me… It's perfect."

She was Reflet.


	2. A Change of Fate

Chrom ran over to the end of the bridge with Donny, waiting for his retainer and his little sister to catch up to them.

"Hey Chrom! Hey Donny!" his little sister, Liz, said. She waved at the two of them, running their way ahead of Freddy.

"Hey Liz!" Chrom said as she reached them.

Donny reached out his hand, giving her a hand shake. "Hello there, Liz, it's a pleasure to meet you for real this time."

"It's nice to meet you for real, too!" Liz said as she shook his hand back excitedly. "Sorry we had to meet during a bandit raid, though."

"Ah, I don't mind it none." Donny played with one of his curly hairs, smiling at his sister.

Liz looked around, growing confused. "Where's the other girl?"

Chrom pointed over to Reflet, who was playing with her dagger next to the unconscious bandit leader. "She's over there, come on, let's walk." The three of them went back over to her, with Freddy still catching up to them.

Reflet got up from the floor, putting her dagger away. "Hi, I'm Reflet." She smiled at Liz as she said her own name. Chrom guessed that she really did like it, and was saying it as a sort of an affirmation for herself.

"Awww, that's a cute name!" Liz gave the girl a tight hug, making the girl squeak and giggle.

"Eep! Hehehe!" Reflet hugged her back, her smile growing even wider.

"Yeah, she just came up with the name right now," Chrom said.

"You did? That's amazing!" Liz hugged her even tighter, squishing her cheek against the smaller girl's. Reflet hid behind her hands, her cheeks blushing a bright pink.

"Milord," his retainer said, "we've made sure to protect any civilian we came across. The villagers are starting to come out of their homes and shelters, and they've gotten to work repairing the village."

Chrom let out a quiet snicker, still finding it funny that Reflet thought that Milord was his actual name. "Alright, that's good," he said, clearing his throat. "I think we should send these bandits to jail, now. What do you think, Freddy?"

"I thought the same," Freddy said. "The villagers will arrive shortly to take that man and his lackeys away. I pray they never harm another innocent again. Now, before we continue, I must inform you that the villagers managed to find this note in the wagon that the bandit's used to store their pilfered goods." He reached into the pocket of his suit, pulling out a small letter. "I ask that you read it for yourself first and foremost."

Chrom took the letter from his hands. "Well then, let's see what's on it." Chrom scanned the letter, growing furious as he read each word on the paper. By the end of the letter, he was left completely pissed off at its contents.

_Squad leader Garrick, your mission is to cross the Ylissean border and raid as many villages as possible. Plegia shall be pleased once you accomplish your mission. Please report to Ardri for further instructions._

"Damn it!" he suddenly shouted, shocking everyone except Freddy, who remained stoic.

"What's wrong, Sir Chrom?" Donny asked nervously.

"This bandit raid was Plegia's doing! Those damn bastards!" Chrom crumpled the paper up, nearly tearing it apart in anger. He shoved it down his pocket, letting out a furious hiss under his breath. He and Freddy had suspected this to be the case since they first heard wind of these raids, and this was the proof he needed to show to his elder sister.

"Chrom, does this mean we have to go to war?" Liz said, looking quite shaken up. She was holding on to Reflet by the hand, holding it tightly with worry.

"Yeah, what does this mean for the kingdom, sir?" Donny asked with similar worry in his voice.

Chrom shook his head. "We won't know until we take this to Emmeryn." The future wasn't looking too bright. As soon as he finds Emmeryn, he's going to immediately tell her the news.

"Excuse me, but what's Plegia?" Reflet asked. Out of everyone, she looked the most confused over the situation, but she was still just as worried as the others.

"Plegia is our neighboring country to the west," he answered. "And as we just confirmed, they've been conducting bandit raids over the last few months on our people and villages. We haven't found a lead until now, and now that we do, the possibility of having to go to war now becomes realistic. We'll need to be careful in the future, all of us." Chrom let out a deep breath as he tried to keep himself from getting further angry.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now except head home immediately. Let's try to cheer up," Chrom said, trying to move away from the topic. "And I know a perfect way to cheer us up! Who wants to meet our two new Shepherds?" He raised two fingers up, smiling at his sister and retainer.

"We got two new Shepherds?!" Liz perked up, shaking her fists in excitement. "Which? I wanna know!"

" _Two_ new Shepherds, Milord?" Frederick said in his always disapproving voice, like usual whenever this happens.

Chrom slapped his hands together like a stage magician before presenting the purple-haired boy and white-haired girl beside him with his hands stretched open. "Meet Donny and Reflet, everyone!"

"Ooh! Yay!" Liz said, hugging Reflet and Donny again. "This is great! Are they really gonna come with us?"

"Yeah, they both helped me out a lot, so I'm going to help them out as thanks," Chrom said.

"Unacceptable," Freddy said suddenly, breaking the cheerful mood. "Forgive me, Milord, and while I take no major issues with having the young man join, we simply cannot have the girl join us."

 _Damn it, Freddy. Why not?_ Now Chrom was upset with him. He really didn't like when Freddy did this.

"Me?" Reflet said. Reflet tapped her index fingers together as she grew nervous of Freddy, turning her eyes away from him.

Chrom crossed his arms. "Why not, Freddy?" he said in defense of his friend.

"Yeah, what has she done to you?" Liz said, also upset with him.

"It's not a matter of her doing anything to me," Freddy said. "It's a matter of the fact we can't trust her. I took no issue when you said you would simply assist her, but it's another story altogether to have her join us personally as a member of the Shepherds. She is a person with no memory or knowledge of her own past, so we cannot say for sure where she's from or what her motives are. Her robes are that of a mage's, but we don't know where they originate from. They do, however, bear a resemblance to those of Plegian dark mages."

"So you're saying she's trying to gain our trust to backstab us later?" He said, knowing his retainer's train of thought. "I find that hard to believe. She doesn't even know who she is, so how could she have a reason to betray us?"

"I'm saying that is a possibility," Freddy said, not yielding on his point. "We could very well be allowing our enemy right into our home. Let's say for a second that she truly does lack her memories. There's still the chance that either herself or another mage has placed her under a hex to forget her own memory. Then she could gain our trust, and when our guards are finally lowered, she could easily murder us and the queen. In one single move, the entire kingdom would crumble into instability."

Reflet lowered her head as she brought her hands inwards to her chest. "Y-you, you think I'm going to kill you all?" She was clearly hurt by the accusation, which showed in her terrified eyes. "I-I'm sorry everyone, I don't want to kill any of you."

"Frederick the Wary" wasn't just the title of his retainer for nothing, he very much lived up to his name. None of them knew what the Plegian mages had up their sleeves, and they were known for having some of the most unusual curses and spells in Archanea. For a second, Chrom did consider the possibility of Freddy's words being true, but his heart told him otherwise.

"I don't think that would be the case," Chrom said. "And even if it was, I couldn't just leave her here to fend for herself. What kind of leader would I be if I didn't help people in need? And right now, she's someone who needs help. And not only that, she went out of her way to fight for the lives of Ylisseans. That alone proves to me her innocence. Besides, how would she even kill me? Is she going to stab me in the chest with lightning?" he joked. "She didn't even know what magic was until five seconds ago." He put a hand on his new friend's shoulder, trying to put her at ease.

Donny stepped up towards him and Freddy, speaking in a voice that was nervous yet serious. "If I might add, sirs. She personally saved my life from that bandit fellow. He grabbed hold of me and put a knife to my neck, but she jumped in and slashed back at the guy to rescue me. For what it's worth, I'd reckon you could trust her with your lives, even. I know I do."

Chrom nodded at him, turning back to Freddy. "Donny's right. I'm not going to turn my back on her just because there's a chance that she could do something to me. And we'll need all the help we can get, especially in the immediate future. I'm going to stand by my decision to help her, no matter the risk."

"Very well, if you are that insistent, I will yield." Freddy nodded at him, looking back at Reflet. "But I will be keeping a close eye on her. If she tries to do something to any of you, I'll have her stopped immediately."

Chrom turned back to Reflet, patting her head as he looked at the scared girl. "You're gonna be fine, Reflet. Okay? You aren't going to kill us."

"T-thank you, Chrom." Reflet looked up at him, smiling back at him. She was still nervous, that was for sure, but she seemed a lot less tense than earlier.

"Well then, it's decided," Chrom said. "I think it's time for us to go back to Iris." With that argument finished, the Shepherds began to head out of the village, now with Reflet and Donny in tow. They were stopped almost as soon as they started walking, however, when a middle-aged woman started running their way.

"Donnel!" the woman called out. Donny looked backwards, opening his arms up as the woman ran towards him.

"Ma!" he said, and the two of them shared a loving embrace in each other's arms.

"Oh thank goodness you're safe!" Donny's mother said. "I couldn't find you during the raid!"

"I'm alright Ma," Donny said with a chuckle. "I was fighting them off with these guys!"

Chrom waved at Donny's mom. "Hi."

"I know! I watched it happenin' from the upstairs window!" She took the pot off his head, messing up his curly hair underneath. "You were really something, sweetie! All of you were!"

"Aww. shucks." Donny blushed. "Thanks Ma."

"I'll be right back, I have something for you before you go!" Donny's mother went back to their house and shortly returned to them, and in her arms were an armored blue and white chestplate, a blue shield, and white knight boots. They looked old, but were still in great condition. Donny gasped as he took the armor from her, holding it all in his own hands.

"Dad's armor?" he said, giving one of the happiest smiles in the world. "You're really givin' it to me?"

His mother nodded, hugging him again as she handed him a bag to carry his things. "It's your armor now. You'll need it. You just come home safe, love. I'll see that the village is still standin' when you return a hero.".

"Thanks, Ma." Donny smiled. "I'm gonna make you proud, Ma! I'm gonna make this whole village proud of Donny!" He nodded at his mother and at Chrom, smiling at his mother one last time before they left the village.

"…Just come home alive, Donny." His mother smiled back at him, heading back to the house they lived in.

* * *

The five of them traveled back the road they came for about a few hours, making their way to the capital. Reflet held a smile as she walked, situated in the middle of Chrom, Liz and Donny.

"So what's the capital like?" Donny asked as he turned to Liz. "I've never been there myself."

"Yeah, what's it like?" Reflet added, just as curious.

"It's beautiful!" Liz answered. "There's so many nice people, and there's a market right next to our home! There's just so much stuff to show you two when we get there! What do you guys wanna see first?"

"What do we want? Hmm… I guess I don't know." Donny furled his eyebrows, giving her a shrug. "But that market sure sounds fun!"

"Sure, let's go there as soon as we get home!" Liz said.

"Okay," Reflet said. They continued to walk down the road when she noticed the sky starting to turn a dark shade of red. It was sunset, which meant night would start soon.

"Attention, everyone," Freddy said. "It's getting rather dark. We should make camp."

"Right," Chrom added. "How about that forest over there?" He said, pointing to a large forest just a little off the road.

"Agreed," Freddy said, and the five of them changed directions, making their way inside the forest instead. Reflet found herself staring at so many trees, each one taller than her. Then again, most things seemed to be taller than her, anyways. They stopped once they reached a stretch of open grass with a tree stump in the center, and immediately they started setting up for camp.

"Today has been an eventful day, don't you think?" Chrom said as he sat down on the tree stump.

"Yep!" Liz said, "Not only did we save a village, but we got two new friends out of it! And one's a girl!" She hugged Reflet once more, squishing her cheeks again. While Reflet did feel a little shy, Liz was really sweet and caring to her. Perhaps that was why she felt so safe around her.

"Thank you so much for letting me join you all," Reflet said. She really did like her new group of friends. Even if she lost her memory, she felt that things wouldn't be that bad if they were here with her.

Chrom got out of his seat, drawing his sword with one hand. "So, I'm going to catch something so we can all eat for dinner," Chrom said. "I'll be back in a few."

"Ooh, can I come with, sir?" Donny said, raising his own sword.

"Sure, it'll be more fun that way." Chrom nodded as the two of them made their way deeper into the forest, leaving just Liz, Freddy and herself. Freddy got to work digging a pit in front of the stump, gathering several tree branches and putting them all in a pile.

"Ooh, watch, it's gonna get good," Liz said with an excited look in her eye.

"What is gonna get-mpph!?" Reflet said as Liz suddenly put a finger on her lips, preventing her from speaking.

"Shh," Liz said. Within a few moments, Frederick set the entire thing ablaze into one large fire. It shone brightly in the night, lighting up the entire area around them.

"Woah!" Reflet said as she leaned backwards in her seat. She shifted further away from the fire, the heat radiating too intensely on her face.

"Wooh! Great job!" Liz said, giving Freddy a round of claps.

"I've made bigger fires than this, but this one should be enough to keep us warm without causing an issue," Freddy said, sounding somewhat satisfied with himself.

"Heh, this fire is nothing compared to the bonfires he used to make at the beach!" Liz said. "You should see how big they get?"

"How big do they get?" Reflet asked, turning to Freddy.

Freddy stared into the fire in front of them for a long time, saying nothing save for a quiet chuckle under his breath as an evil smile formed on his lips. "They're big enough," Frederick said.

Liz turned to her with a sly smile and a shrug. "Let's just say our retainer really loves his fires."

"A retainer?" Reflet asked her. "What's that?"

"It's basically a butler," Liz said with a snicker.

" _No_ , not like a butler," Frederick said, his voice slightly raised in volume. "I am a knight, that is my first and foremost duty. It's just that I also handle all the day-to-day tasks of my lord and lady. It's my job to do all their clothes, wash whichever dishes are necessary, keep the fireplace warm and—"

"Yeah! Just like a butler!" Liz snickered even louder, nearly falling off the seat and having to catch herself.

Freddy looked at her with a straight face, staying quiet until she finished laughing. "...I am a knight," he said bluntly, ending the conversation just as Reflet heard rustles in the bushes up ahead.

"Hey guys! You'll never believe what we just caught!" Donny called out as he returned with Chrom behind him. They were dragging something by its legs, though it was difficult to see what they caught.

"It's gonna be great!" Chrom said.

"Aw, sweet!" Liz perked up as she turned to them. "What is it? Fish? Rabbit?"

"Get over here and see for yourself!" Chrom said. Liz got out of her seat, rushing over to where the two of them were with a smile on her face.

"Chrom." Liz's smile slowly disappeared as she looked at what they caught. She slumped her shoulders down as she hunched her neck over, looking at her brother with nothing but sheer disappointment. Curious, Reflet went over to where they were standing, seeing exactly what Chrom and Donny hunted. "Chrom, this is a bear," Liz said in a dry voice devoid of emotion.

"Yeah!" Chrom said excitedly. "Let's cook it!" Donny and Chrom high-fived each other as they went over to the fire. "Reflet, get over here!" Chrom said.

"Okay," Reflet said as she walked over to them. "What do I do?"

"Alright, so what we're gonna do here now is we're gonna skewer the meat like this." Donny passed her a steel rod from his bag. He then grabbed her hand, helping her slide the rod through a large piece of meat that Chrom cut for them.

"Like this?" she said, smiling at her friend as she showed him the results.

"Perfect! Now we'll cook it over the fire!" Donny said. He and Chrom speared more pieces of bear meat, joining her by the fire. The meat started to slowly cook, and Reflet caught a whiff of its strong, sweet scent.

"Oh, wow, that smells really good," she said. She began to sniff over and over, her mind starting to grow hungry for meat. She started to giggle uncontrollably, practically drooling in anticipation when her tummy began growling. How long had it been since she last ate? Reflet hadn't noticed up until this point, but her tummy was aching and desperate to have something inside of it. Was it a day since she last done it? A week? A month? Reflet stopped caring about that, impatiently waiting for when the meat would be all hot and ready.

"...Raagh, I'm getting hungry!" Reflet whined in a fussy manner. She really didn't like having to wait for her meat, she wanted it right now.

"Yeah, I'm getting hungrier every second, too," Chrom added, looking just as eager as she was.

"It'll almost be done!" Donny said. Reflet growled, rubbing her thighs together as she grew sicker of waiting for her long stick of meat to finally get ready.

"Alright!" Donny said as he lifted the stick out of the fire. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Reflet!"

"Yes, please!" Reflet said excitedly as she pulled the meat out of the fire, bringing it to her eyes as she eyed it longingly. The other two passed a spear to Liz and Freddy, and now it was finally time to dine. There it was, completely hers and only hers to devour. It looked so wonderful, Reflet could hardly resist wanting to eat it by now.

"It's been far too long since I last had bear meat." Chrom quickly dug into his food, nearly finishing half of it as soon as he started. "Oh gods, it's so good," he said with the food in his mouth.

Liz cautiously looked at the stick in her hands, taking a whiff of her food before she retched in disgust. "Eww! There's no way in heaven that I'm going to eat this! It smells like old boots, why does it smell like old boots?!" She pulled it away from her, keeping it as far away from her as possible. "Couldn't you have speared a normal animal, Chrom? Right, Reflet?" Liz turned to her, motioning for her to agree. "Reflet? Right?"

"Huh?" Reflet asked, her brain hazy and lost of reason. She didn't process what Liz was telling her, and soon her mind and body were immediately drawn back to the nice stick of bear steak in front of her. Without much thought behind her, she bit into her meat. As soon as it hit her tongue, she squealed in immense delight as the flavors overwhelmed her.

"Mmmm, yes!" She bit into the meat again, enjoying its strong, strange scent and flavor that made her even more hungrier. Was bear meat really this delicious, or was she simply so hungry she didn't care what she ate anymore? She thought it was a little bit of both. She bit down on the rod once again, ripping off another chunk of meat and downing it with another squeal.

"Wow, I've never seen a girl enjoy bear meat so much, or anyone for that matter!" Donny said, watching Reflet go at it.

"Well I'm glad that at least someone else enjoys this," Liz said, sticking her tongue out at the steak in her hands.

"Every experience makes us stronger, milady," Frederick said, chiding her. "Even the ones we don't enjoy."

Liz crossed her arms, giving him a coy look. "And that's why you're not eating your meat, huh Frederick?"

"Me?" Freddy stiffened up in his seat, turning his head away from her. "Oh, well, you see, I wasn't particularly hungry at all. I don't think I'll be eating for the rest of the night."

Liz raised her eyebrow as high as they could get. "Uhuh? Yeah, sure Frederick. Totally, oh absolutely." She let out a snark as she raised a hand towards him. "Liar, you don't like it either, don't you?"

Freddy put a hand on his head as he let out a groan-like sigh. "Fine, I admit it. I can hardly stomach any form of game."

"See, doesn't telling the truth make you feel good?" Liz snarked. "So what are we gonna do with these?" she said, pointing to their steaks. "I'm still hungry."

"If you don't want it, then I or someone else could just eat it," Donny said as he got off his feet. "Let me go catch some fish for you two or something! Wish me luck!"

"Oh Naga yes please, Donny," Liz said, praying with her hands. "I need some real food." Liz tapped onto Reflet's shoulder, trying to get her attention. Reflet shot her neck up, quickly twisting around much to Liz's surprise. She looked at her in a very innocent manner, but her eyes were desperate and even somewhat crazed.

"Umm… Can I put that whole thing in my mouth?" Reflet said.

Liz held her mouth closed as a chuckle forced its way out of her. "... _Pfft_!" She laughed so hard that she fell backwards, hitting her back on the tree stump. "Here! Just take it!" she said, still laughing as she handed Reflet her meat. Reflet gingerly took her meat from her, giggling again as she licked her lips.

* * *

Reflet enjoyed a very delicious second helping of bear meat, and when she had finished, it was right about the time for everyone to go to bed. Reflet licked her lips again as she took a seat on the ground, enjoying the taste of bear meat that still lingered in her mouth.

"Hey, mind if I join you?" Chrom said, walking up behind her.

"Sure," she said, patting a hand on the ground. Chrom took a seat next to her, scratching his head as he turned to face her.

"So, Reflet. How do you feel now that you've joined us?" Chrom said.

"How do I feel?" Reflet hummed as she thought of her answer. "Well, you're all really sweet, and the food is so good." She smiled, letting out a quiet giggle as she licked her lips again. "I really like being here, a lot, actually. But if there's one thing I'm still nervous about, it's Freddy." She still wasn't too sure what to even say to him, but at least he seemed on good terms with Chrom and Liz.

Chrom waved a hand away from them. "Don't worry about him too much. He'll warm up to you eventually. He's just like that because he knows he has to take care of all of us." He shrugged, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Listen Reflet. There's something I want to tell you."

"What is it?" she asked.

"You're gonna be a Shepherd now, okay? Chrom patted her shoulder, smiling warmly at her. "You're a part of our team now, and from now on, we'll always have your back. And one day, we're going to help you find out who you are."

Reflet smiled back at him, hugging his waist softly. "Thank you, Chrom. And thank you so much for helping me."

"Anytime." Chrom said, returning the hug. "Goodnight, Reflet." He pulled away as he lowered his head to the ground. He brought his arms under his head, staring at the sky as he got ready to sleep. Reflet yawned, her eyes growing weary from the eventful day. And now that she had a full tummy, it was just about time for her to do the same.

"Goodnight, Chrom," she said as she laid down on the ground, pulling her hood over her head as she let sleep take over her.

* * *

Even though by now everyone else was asleep, Chrom was wide awake, having struggled to get even so much as a little sleep. His mind just kept returning to the letter from the morning, the one that proved Plegia was behind the attacks. Chrom huffed as he looked up at the sky, unsure of what was to come. The last thing he wanted was for his country to go to war once again with Plegia, but it was looking less and less likely that that'd be the case.

He got off the ground, dusting himself off as he headed deeper within the forest. Maybe if he walked around he could tire himself and clear his thoughts. The strange thing he noticed immediately, though, was just how unusually dark the forest was the deeper he went inside. The only things he could see were the dark outlines of trees sparsely spread apart, lit only by the moon above. He's been camping since he was a kid, and he was sure he'd never seen a forest this pitch black before. Its darkness was only matched in its unnerving air by its quietness. Whatever buzz of insects or rustling of animals there were earlier, they were all gone now. Chrom crossed by a small pond nearby that Donny went to fish over, taking a seat next to it as he stared into the dark water. He could see not even a single fish swimming withing it. Today was certainly strange, but what was the reason?

"Hey, Chrom? What are you doing?"

Chrom turned around, finding that his younger sister had followed him. "Liz, you're awake too?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I saw you getting up earlier, so I came to check on you." Liz said, not looking all too happy herself. There was something about the way she scrunched her eyebrows together.

"I wasn't getting much sleep at all so I figured I'd go for a little walk," he said. "And you? What's keeping you awake?"

"I've just been thinking about everything that's happened today," she said.

"Plegia, right?"

His little sister nodded. "Mmhm."

"Same here, Liz. Want to talk with me, then?" he said, gesturing for her to take a seat.

"Sure," Liz said, sitting down right next to him. "I guess I just never expected it to be so soon before we had to worry about another war. Do you remember when we were just kids, back when the first one was going on?

He nodded. "It was just you, me, Freddy and Emm against the world. I remember that for a while, Freddy and Emm basically had to raise you all on their own, and me to an extent. We're really blessed to have them as our family, you know. I honestly don't know where we'd be if it was only us and our dad."

Liz frowned, lowering her eyes at the dark pond in front of them. "I'd rather not think about dad, not after all he's done…"

"It's okay Liz." He said, patting her on the back. "Let's just think about something else instead. Hey, you remember mom, right?"

"Of course I do!" she said, her eyes lighting up. "She was the sweetest mom in the world! Do you remember when we had your seventh birthday and mom made us that cake?"

Of course he remembered that day. "When we snuck off to her hometown? Gods, that chocolate cake was the best I've ever eaten in my life. And when Emm and Freddy made the first one, and then they both tripped and fell face first into the cake so they had to start all over again?" He and his sister shared a laugh as he remembered the look of their chocolate-covered faces. For a moment, reminiscing about his childhood made him feel like all his worries were nonexistent.

Liz turned her head upwards, staring quietly at the sky up above.

"What exactly are you looking at?" he asked her.

"The stars in the sky," she replied. "Besides the moon, they're the only thing bright tonight, don't you think?"

"Yeah," he said, staring upwards alongside her. Above them were many bright, white sparkles in the sky, dotting the black night as if it was a canvas. "They're really beautiful. There are so many out tonight, it's like a sea of stars."

"Hey Chrom?" Liz asked, turning her eyes to him. "Do you ever think mom's still watching over us?"

"Maybe," he answered, scratching his cheek. "I don't know if she could, but if she could, then she'd definitely be looking out for us, even right now."

"Maybe she's a star, lighting up the sky to protect us," Liz said, waving at the stars as if they were mom.

"Hi mom," he said with a smile. Liz laughed, covering her mouth as she turned back to him.

"Hey Chrom?" she asked. "Listen, if we really do go to war, then I want you to know that I've got your back. I may be scared, but I'm not going to stick around and do nothing."

"Thanks, but don't you already have my back?" he asked, wondering where she was going with this.

"I mean like physically, I'm going to learn to fight too," she said. Even though it was dark, he could see the hint of determination within her eyes.

"So you'll become a nun with an axe?" he said, laughing at his own joke. "You know nuns and warfare do not mix, right?"

His sister pouted at him, breaking away from their hug as she gave him an annoyed look. "I'm not a nun, and I never said I'd use an axe!" she said.

"Alright, alright," he said with a snicker. "Continue."

Liz's face softened up as she spoke, "It's just, you know, one day I want to protect you the same way you protect me, and everyone else too. I know all I can do is heal right now, but I want to change that."

"Liz, it's great that you feel the way you do, but don't forget that you are already a valuable part of our team." He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to give what advice he could to her. "You're our healer. It's one thing to take a life, it's another to save one."

Liz smiled at him. "I know, Chrom. Thanks for listening to me."

He gave her a fist bump, looking forward to what she'll turn out to be in the future. "You too, Liz." Just as soon as their knuckles touched, however, all of a sudden their quiet peace was interrupted by the ground shaking below.

"Huh?" Chrom said, feeling himself stumble off-balance. What the hell just happened? Was that an earthquake? A second, stronger earthquake hit immediately afterwards, bringing him down to his knees. Liz was knocked down instantly, falling backwards and landing on her butt.

"What the hell?!" he said, struggling to pull himself up. In the distance, several trees began to fall one by one, speeding up exponentially as they made their way towards them. What the hell was happening? Was it an ordinary earthquake, or some kind of beast? Either way, Chrom didn't want to linger any longer here. Whatever was coming their way was going to be bad for them.

"Liz, we gotta get going!" Chrom said, grabbing his sister by the hand.

"What the heck is happening!?" Liz asked, still struggling to get up.

"We have to go now!" he shouted as he pulled himself off the ground, bringing her up as well. He sprinted for the exit, trying to escape whatever was gaining on them.

"Chrom! Look behind us!" Liz said, pointing upwards as she tried to keep up with him. Chrom's eyes flared in disbelief as he caught a glimpse of what on earth was happening behind them. The earth itself was rising towards the sky, as if being lifted upwards by a giant or some kind of magic. Waves of molten rock and flames fired off from underneath the cracks in the ground, hurling towards their direction rapidly. Whatever the molten earth touched it turned into nothing else but ash and smoulders, and it would do the same to them were they not any quicker.

"Hurry!" Chrom said, pulling Liz closer to him as he picked up the pace. He didn't have a clue in the world as to what was happening, but their safety came before any tries to make heads of the situation.

"Liz, watch out!" he called out as a blast of rock shot in their direction, bolting at them at high speeds. He yanked his sister by the arm, pulling her to the side just in time to avoid the hit.

"Whaa!" Liz said as she was pulled. She tripped, nearly losing her balance when she hit her foot on a rock."Hang on!"

"Sorry about that, Liz!" Chrom said, helping her steady herself before they continued to run. He wished he could've been gentler about yanking her so roughly, but they couldn't afford to think about that. They needed to do everything they could to escape this disaster of flames and quakes, and they needed to do it quickly. Chrom could only hope that the others weren't in the same mess that they were in. He prayed that they'd make it out of the forest safely on their own. As much as he'd like to go find them, he didn't have a choice. They had to leave, _now._

* * *

Finally, he'd done it. He made it. He finally made it. He was back in Ylisse. He almost couldn't believe it. Even though it was ensured that he would arrive at this time at this place, he could hardly believe what he was seeing. Everything was so green, alive and…

 _And on fire._ There was some kind of forest fire not too far from the grassy field he arrived at. By now it looked like half of it was completely destroyed. Trees had toppled over one another, reduced to nothing but ashes. He bit his finger, not exactly happy to see that. The thing that really took him by surprise was the large piece of land that now jutted into the air. He's passed through this road on the way to south Ylisse several times, and he was absolutely certain such a thing did not exist in the past. What on Earth caused it to rise like that? He'd have to find out soon, but first thing was first. He needed to leave now and make his way to West Ferox. He adjusted his mask, taking his first step forward only to stop when two people dashed from behind him, running away from the burning forest. One, a tall, blue-haired man, and the other a blonde woman of average height.

"Wait, are those two…?" he said, his mouth slowly opening as he stared at the two in awe. It really was them. Despite the situation they were in, they _were_ here, alive and well. He started to shed tears, unable to keep himself collected after not seeing them for so long. He quickly wiped them off his face, trying to get a glimpse of their faces from where he was standing.

But he couldn't approach them. Admittedly, a small part of him wanted nothing more than to go right up to them, but he knew he couldn't do that. He promised himself that he would keep his contact with them as minimal as possible. Unless it was absolutely necessary, then he wouldn't approach them no matter what. And even then, the moment he was no longer needed, he'd have to leave immediately. Just watching them from where he was, knowing that they were safe, was enough for him.

"Do you think we're safe, Chrom?" Lissa asked as they stopped running.

"I have no idea," Chrom answered. The two of them caught their breath, they must have been running hard to try to escape the fire.

"Hey wait, Chrom," Lissa said, tugging on his shirt as she pointed up ahead. "Who are those guys?"

"I don't know, were they also escaping the fire?" Chrom said, staring up ahead. Two burly men slowly rose from the grass, their necks limp as they turned to face Chrom and Lissa. The masked man's eyes widened as he realized just exactly what they were dealing with. The men, no, monsters had rotting, blackish-purple flesh that was devoid of all signs of life. A dark, sickly mist spewed from their mouth, a mist that made his blood run cold just seeing it from where he was. Those were traits he'd registered into his brain long ago as traits of the Risen, the undead. The Risen managed to slip by them, and now they were here when they weren't supposed to be. In unison, the Risen craned their neck upwards all the way towards the sky, overshooting much more than their mindless bodies needed while awkwardly raising the axes they held in their hands as if they were a puppetmaster's playthings. They violently snapped their heads back down as they stared at the two siblings, their eyes glowing a vile shade of purple that shone through the night. Together, they let out one metallic, demonic scream that pierced the air with a roar that sounded unlike anything else in the world.

"Dear gods, no," the masked man said as the two Risen charged ahead, rushing towards the two siblings.

"Hang on! Liz, stand back!" Chrom quickly pulled out his rapier, gripping it with both his hands as the first Risen lunged at him. He slashed across the monster's torso with the tip of his blade, stopping it in its tracks before it could even finish its swing.

Unfortunately, however, despite taking what should have been a fatal blow, the monster yet lived. Though, perhaps it was more accurate to say that the monster had refused to die at all. It snapped its neck violently, rotating it all the way around as it quickly slammed its axe into Chrom's sword. Its eyes flared its ominous shade once more, screeching another demonic rasp as it tried to overpower Chrom once more.

"What the—?" Chrom quickly blocked the axe with his rapier, pushing back against the monster with all his force. He disarmed the monster, bashing it to the ground before leaping into the air with a spin. "Aether!" he called out as he drove his blade downwards, piercing it through the monster's back. The monster let out one final scream as the light faded away from its eyes. Its body slowly started to disintegrate, turning into nothing else but black dust.

"What the hell was that?" Chrom said, his sword now planted into the ground below where the Risen disappeared. "That… that _thing_ , there's no way that was a bandit..."

"Helllp!"

 _Oh dear gods. That was Lissa's voice._ The masked man's eyes widened in horror as he turned over to where she was. In front of her was the unholy beast with its axe stiffly raised high into the air, gripping its shaft tightly as it readied itself to take her life away. Liz was terrified of the monster in front of her, her entire shaking as she raised her staff up to defend what she could of herself.

"Liz!" Chrom cried out. He started running towards her in a desperate bid to save her, but he wouldn't be able to reach her in time. He was just too far away, he'd never be able to save her even with how quick he was.

 _But could he save her instead?_ The masked man was close enough to her to be able to reach her just in time to stop the act before it began. But he shouldn't jump in. It was too risky, he'd alert them to his presence and that could potentially throw all his plans into disarray. He had mentally rehearsed for so long just to get everything right, and to save her would be to throw the future off its intended course beyond what was necessary.

But he couldn't just let Lissa die like that. If he did nothing then Lissa would die right here and now. She didn't deserve to die, _it wasn't her time to die._

The masked man clenched his teeth. "Dammit." He knew he'd regret what he was right about to do, but right now no amount of regret could stop him from doing what his heart told him was the right thing to do. He drew the blade his aunt had given to him so long ago from its sheath and bolted towards the blonde woman, quickly intercepting the monster's axe at the last second.

"Huh?!" Lissa said, staring into the slits of his mask the moment he saved her. She looked at him in complete shock and surprise, and her face was burning completely red.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. Being caught by her like this wasn't good for him. And worse, the Risen he was now fighting was also stronger than him in terms of sheer strength. The Risen's axe slowly overpowered his blade, threatening to break the clash and knock his blade out of his hands. Things were quickly devolving from worse to even more worse. He didn't have the power to overtake the Risen, and if he didn't do anything, he was likely going to die alongside Lissa.

So he did something he knew he'd regret. "Help!" he shouted at Chrom like someone wanting to throw his plans into a Frederick-class fire. Chrom took notice of him, giving him a nod as he immediately rushed towards them with his rapier raised. A sharp, thin blade pierced the Risen from behind through its heart, making the Risen growl as its grip on its axe weakened for just a moment. The masked man seized the opportunity to disarm the Risen, sending its axe flying away to the ground. He delivered a thrust with all his might, stabbing the risen through the chest just as Chrom dealt a massive slash across it. The purple in the Risen's eyes faded away as it fell to the ground with a creek of its neck. It laid on the ground, still and lifeless as its body slowly faded into dust, returning the Risen back to its death.

That was the end of them, it seemed. And luckily, there didn't seem to be any more monsters around, thank Naga.

But thanks to his decision to save them, now he had two much, much bigger problems to deal with. Two problems right in front of him.

* * *

Thank Naga that was over with. Chrom let out a sigh of relief, putting his rapier back into his sheath. Now the only ones left standing in the dark, open plain were himself, his sister, and the man who just saved her life. Chrom looked around, surveying the area. The forest fire was starting to die out, thankfully, but just what exactly caused that earthquake in the first place? And why on earth did the land itself start rising into the sky? Chrom looked in bewilderment at what he would describe as the plateau that formed as they were escaping the fire. It was almost the size as the forest it took with it, and was easily one of the highest points one could reach in this area of Ylisse, given that the southern part of Ylisse was mostly flat land with large green plains and plenty of rivers. Whatever caused this thing to appear, it sure wasn't something that Ylisse was known for.

But to be honest, he was just thankful that he was alive, and especially that his sister was, too.

"Wow, thank you for saving me..." Liz said. Her face was completely red as she stared at the man's mask in awe. It was no surprise, either, considering what she just went through.

"You're welcome," the man said, sheathing his own blade. Now that they were out of battle, Chrom got a better look at the man. His hair was a shade of blue much like his, and he wore a blue tunic with blue pants and a blue mask with yellow highlights. He liked the guy already. He looked like the type of guy with good taste.

"So, that was quite an entrance you made, what's your name?" he asked the man.

The man slowly turned his head towards him. "You may call me Marth," he answered.

"Marth?" Chrom said, surprised. "You're named after the Hero-King?" He'd never expect to meet someone named after the man who unified Archanea so long ago, but it wasn't necessarily strange to him. There were parents who often named their children or pets after heroes or other people they looked up too. Sometimes they'd name their pets after heroes, too. "Well then, I'd say you certainly fought like a hero today. Where did you learn your way with the sword?"

Marth shook his head. "I'm not here to talk about me. There are more pressing matters to discuss." The way he spoke was blunt and curt, telling Chrom that he wasn't much for conversation. And with that mask on, he couldn't get a read on what the guy was thinking, either.

"Okay… so what are these pressing matters?" Chrom said, unsure of how to respond to such a frank reply.

"What you saw tonight was but a prelude, an omen. You have been warned," the man said, looking at him with straightened lips. To be honest however, his words just left Chrom somewhat concerned and seriously confused.

"What do you mean? An omen of what?" Chrom asked, wanting some clarification. Was it the possible upcoming war? Or something like what those monsters they just fought were?

"A day will come that will act as a harbinger to a great evil. Until then, prepare yourselves for when I return." The man then turned around and began to head off, towards the north towards Iris and North Ylisse further ahead.

"Wait, what?" Chrom said, even more bewildered. "A great evil? What kind of great evil? And is there any way we can stop it?" He'd never faced anything he could consider a great evil before, but if there was a threat to his country, his people or innocent lives, it was up to him to do something about it and fight back.

The man stopped walking away, turning around to face him. "You can't stop it, Chro-." He cut himself off with a hand to his mouth, letting out one audible gasp. Chrom furled his eyebrows, catching up to the man who was growing suspicious the more he talked. That was definitely his name that left Marth's lips, which was extremely strange considering this was their first meeting and he hadn't told him his name yet.

"Wait, what says I can't stop it? And how do you know my name?" Chrom said.

Marth flinched, taking a step away from him. "B-because…" he said nervously as his body suddenly began to shake. He looked like he was about to fall down, which started to worry Chrom. Marth tightly gripped the end of his blade, with it wobbling in his hand like a fish out of water.

"Hey wait, is something wrong? Do you need help?" Chrom asked.

Marth turned his head away from him. "Y-you're the prince of the c-country, after all," he said. The collected tone in his voice was gone, replaced now by what was clearly the voice of a nervous wreck. "Would it not be natural for one to know your n-name?" he continued. "As for the other question, I cannot say why you sp-specifically cannot stop this evil b-because anything I say about it runs the risk of worsening the situation. All I can say for sure i-i-is that the next time we meet, is the day I'll arrive to stop it. Until then, keep yourselves safe." Marth did not look like he was put together right now, he really looked like he was about to break down. His voice rose almost an octave higher, and there was now a sort of quickness in his voice. What was making him so nervous?

"Well, that does make more sense, I think," Chrom said, admittedly still confused, but shoving that confusion aside as he focused on Marth himself. "Are you sure you're alright? If you were hurt in that fight, we'll help you, okay?" he said to him.

"Yeah, we could heal you if you'd like," Liz said nervously as she got her healing staff ready. "I've got healing magic."

Marth raised his hand as he shook his head. "No thank you. I'll be fine…" Despite what Marth was saying, however, his shaking was getting worse and worse. To be honest, he reminded him a little of Cordie right now, specifically how she acted as of late.

"Well, I can't thank you enough for saving my sister," Chrom said, putting a hand on his head. "Is there any way I could repay you?" Even though he said he'd be fine, if something were to happen to him he'd help him out in a heartbeat.

"No-no, you don't need to…" Marth said as he turned away from them. "I must be going now." Marth was just about to head out when Freddy, Donny, and Reflet arrived at the scene. Chrom was relieved at the fact that they were all unharmed. Looks like they avoided both the monsters and the fire.

"Liz! Chrom! You're both safe!" Reflet said as she ran at them, giving them both a hug.

"I'm so glad we found you both!" Donny said, also giving them a hug. "Where did you two run off to when the fire started?"

"We just went deeper into the woods. We weren't expecting that fire to happen, though," Liz said with a hint of relief in her voice. "I'm just glad you three are all safe, too!"

"Milord," Frederick said, approaching them. "Who exactly is this man beside you two?" He pointed to Marth, who was now looking even more nervous than before.

"This guy right here is Marth," Chrom answered. "He just saved Liz's life from some kind of bandit. I say bandit, but it wasn't human at all. It was more like a monster."

"A monster?" Frederick asked, almost in disbelief.

"I don't know anything else that could explain it," Chrom said as he put a hand on his head, remembering how it fought. "It could crack its neck all the way backwards without hurting itself, as well as the rest of its body. And I'm sure I landed several killing blows on it, but no matter what I did it just didn't back down."

"That is certainly strange," Frederick said, crossing his arms. We'll need to report this to Emmeryn as soon as possible." He turned to Marth, giving him a bow. "But first, thank you, Marth. You have my eternal gratitude for protecting my lieges." He moved up to him, giving Marth both a handshake and a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Freddy… Th-thank you…" A teardrop fell down Marth's face as he looked away from them. He started shaking Freddy's hand, not because of the handshake but because his shaking was really worsening to the point that he was inadvertently shaking his retainer. Chrom bit a finger as he watched Marth, seriously concerned for his health.

"Umm… Marth, you're crying. Are you sure everything is alright?" Chrom asked.

Marth weakly nodded at him. "I'm just… I'm… I'm…"

Marth suddenly collapsed to the ground, lying there unconscious.

"Woah!" Chrom shouted, getting on his knees. "We gotta help him!" Together, he and Freddy turned him over as Liz checked his vitals, trying her best to make sure he was safe.

"What happened to him?" Reflet asked as she sat down with them, nervous worry in her voice. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He must have passed out," Liz said, shaking her own head as she put a hand over Marth's nose. "He's still breathing. Come on, we gotta take him somewhere safe!"

"We'll take him with us to Iris!" Chrom said, lifting him onto Frederick's back. "It's not too far from here, come on!" Together the five of them rushed towards the capital, desperate to get the man who saved his sister's life to safety.


	3. The Royals of Ylisse

_March 6,_

Reflet hurried as the four of them made their way to the capital, trying to reach it as quickly as they could so that they could bring Marth to safety.

"Liz, what's his status?" Chrom asked, looking over the unconscious man that Frederick carried on his back.

Liz checked his vitals once again, letting out a sigh of relief. "He hasn't gotten any worse, but he's still unconscious."

"What can we do to help him?" Reflet asked the two of them. "Why did he fall unconscious in the first place?"

Chrom shook his head. "I don't know. All we can do right now is take him to the infirmary. Come on, Iris is just up ahead." Within minutes, the dirt road ahead of them transformed into one of stone as they approached a large set of wooden, tall gates. Passing through the gates, they entered a big city with so many citizens out and about, going about their daily lives and enjoying themselves.

"Wow, there's so many people," Reflet said. It seemed like everyone had a smile on their faces. It made her smile, seeing others smile like that.

"Do you like the place?" Chrom said, smiling back at her. "We can see the rest of it after we take care of Marth." They sped things up as they made their way towards one building at the end of the road. It was much bigger than most of the buildings she could see, and fancier than the rest.

"Alright, welcome to the Iris Palace, Reflet," Chrom said as they headed inside. Reflet awed at the sight of such a large hallway, with blue carpets lining the floor and green banners hanging between each of the tall pillars lining the hall. She stopped to stare for just a moment, before sprinting towards Chrom as to not lose pace with him. Chrom led them down a hallway to the left, opening a door for them which led into a strange, white room with many white beds.

"Freddy, let's lay him down," Chrom said as together he and Frederick got Marth off of Frederick's back. They made sure to be as careful as they could, laying him gently down onto the first bed they saw. "And let's get a nurse in here," he told Frederick.

"Of course," Frederick said, heading out the room and further down the hallway. He came back with a nurse in tow, who went straight to work on examining the unconscious masked man.

"I can take it from here," the nurse said. "Thank you for bringing him to my attention. Do you know what happened to him?"

"Let's see," Chrom said, raising a finger to his head. "We got caught in a battle, and then he came to rescue us, but then he passed out all of the sudden. We didn't see him get injured though, and we don't think he has any wounds either."

"Was there anything we might need to know?" the nurse said, turning to Chrom. "What was the state he was in right before he passed out?"

"Well, just after he finished rescuing us, his body started shaking, and he started crying just before he collapsed," Chrom explained.

"I see, then it could be possible that he fainted due to stress or exhaustion. I can take care of everything else for now. You all may be on your way." The nurse continued to pay close attention to Marth as the other three left the room, with Reflet following after them.

"Is he going to be okay?" Reflet asked them.

"I hope so," Liz said. "Thankfully, our nurses are usually good at healing people. Why don't we check on him in a few hours, does that seem like a good idea, you three?"

"Sure, then what should we do until then?" Chrom said.

"I was thinking we could all go out to the market," Liz said. "I did promise Reflet to buy some girl clothes, after all."

"That sounds good. I think I'll try to get something for myself too. Maybe just a drink, though. I don't have much I want to buy right now. What about you, Freddy?"

"I have no objections," he replied. "But remember, milord, we do need to see Emmeryn as soon as possible. She is not currently within the palace, but when she returns, we need to come back immediately."

Chrom looked at the three of them, flashing an eager smile. "Alright then. So it's settled, let's go!" Chrom dashed out of the front door, sprinting along the road leading to the left.

"Right now, already?" Reflet said. When Liz said she'd take her shopping, she wasn't expecting it to be the instant they got to Iris.

"Yeah! You're going to love it, come on!" Liz tugged on her hand and started running out the palace began to chase after Chrom, who was much faster than both of them.

"Whaa!" Reflet squeaked at the sudden pulling of her arm, steadying herself as Liz looked back towards her, smiling brightly.

"Have you ever raced before? It's fun!" Liz let out a giggle, letting go of her arm as she picked up her pace.

"Hey!" Reflet said as she ran after Liz. Soon after, Frederick caught up behind her, overtaking both herself and Liz as he chased after Chrom. On instinct, she sped herself up, trying to catch up to the rest of them. "Hyah!" she said as she let out a burst of energy, sprinting even faster as she caught up to just behind Liz. With one last push, she jumped with all the strength she could muster, tying with her as they reached Chrom, who was waiting for them with his arms crossed alongside Frederick.

"Dang it… I lost again…" Liz said, out of breath.

"My chest… hurts, but… I liked it." Reflet coughed into her jacket, catching her breath as she held onto her knees. "You're right, that was fun…"

"And then there's Freddy here…" Liz stopped, needing to pant. "Already beating us even though he started late."

"While such childish games are normally something I don't partake in, it is perhaps the best way to keep both my lords safe," Frederick said.

"Liar…" Liz said, pointing at him. "You're just saying that to make yourself seem cooler," she said with a chuckle.

For only a split-second, Frederick winced before straightening his face. "I stand by what I said."

"Everyone ready?" Chrom said.

"Yeah, let's go," Liz said, having regained her energy. The four of them were now in a place filled with dozens of stalls and shops. There were even more people bustling around here than at the entrance to the city. Each one shouted over one another, trying to buy and sell a myriad of things. There were stalls for fruits, fish, even jewelry and books. Reflet covered her ears with her fingers as she walked behind Liz, the noise being a bit too much for her to handle.

"Ooh, I'm gonna check out that armory over there!" Chrom pointed to a nearby shop where a woman was hammering down a long and bright red metal bar. It clinked and sparked with each hit, closer resembling the shape of an axe's head the more she worked on it. "Later!" he said as he headed over there with Frederick following behind him.

Liz smiled, waving them off. "I guess it's just us two now. Come on, I wanna show you this one place!" she took her by the arm, leading her inside a shop filled to the brim with so many clothes. Dresses, skirts, jackets, and all of them looked beautiful to her eyes.

"Woah, I've never seen so many clothes before." Reflet went to the first clothing rack she saw, passing a hand over all the shirts as she went from one side to the other. She grabbed a long blue shirt with a yellow highlight at the bottom, running a finger over it's soft fabric. "This one's a little cute," she said softly.

"We'll take it, and you can pick out anything else you'd like." Liz headed off in another direction, eyeing the clothes on display next to the window. Reflet took the shirt with her, heading to another clothing rack when she accidentally bumped into another person. She fell backwards, hitting the floor on her butt as the person turned around.

"What on earth?" the person growled, anger seeping through her voice.

"Ahhh sorry about that!" Reflet pulled herself off the ground and apologized immediately. As soon as she saw what the woman actually looked like, however, she dropped the shirt in her hands, in awe at her prettiness.

"Hmph, as you should be. Mind your manners!" The woman looked to be about her age, and had beautiful locks of golden hair which curled in loose braids at the back. Her clothes were fancier than anything else in the store, wearing a frilled pink shirt and white hair bows on both sides of her head. The scowl on her face intimidated her, but also made her excited for some reason. So did her harsh eyes, which were a dark yet vibrant shade of rose-pink.

Reflet then looked down, noticing something else about the blonde woman. On the upper half of her chest were these two large and round things underneath her shirt. Reflet looked down at her own chest, noticing her own lack of whatever she had. For some reason, Reflet's cheeks started to grow hot, but she also suddenly felt extremely inadequate in front of this woman now by the difference between the woman and herself. Reflet now covered her own chest, confused and embarrassed over why her cheeks burned the way they did and her feelings of inadequacy.

"Why on earth are you staring at me? Well? What is it?" The woman gave her a nasty look, growing more irritated with each second.

"Sorry!" Reflet picked her shirt off the ground as she backed away immediately. She hid behind another clothing rack, picking out a lavender shirt of a similar style to the one she already grabbed, alongside a pair of black tights. However, though she tried to avoid the blonde woman, she couldn't help her eyes from gravitating back towards her. A part of her felt weird, like she shouldn't be staring at someone like this. But she wanted to know why her body wasn't like the other girl's. That's when she spotted Liz running towards the blonde woman, her arms raised.

"Maribelle!" Liz said as she gave her a tight hug. Reflet noticed that Liz, too, had the same things that the blonde girl, Maribelle, did. They were smaller, yes, but they were enough to make Reflet feel worse about herself. Why was she different from them?

"My sweet Lissa! My darling, you finally returned!" Maribelle said, smiling before pulling away. "We're in public, darling. You may hug me when we're at the palace. But nevermind that, how was the mission? You never told me you were leaving the capital, you know! I've been fretting for you ever since! What if you were hurt? Oh I wouldn't know what to do with myself..." Maribelle started ruffling Liz's hair, petting her softly as she gave her a worried look.

"Awww, don't worry Maribelle. I'm perfectly fine!" Liz giggled, rolling up her sleeve as she showed Maribelle her arm. "Look, not a scratch on me!"

Reflet swallowed a nervous gulp, afraid to talk to Liz in front of the blonde woman. It seemed like the two were very close friends, or at least, that's what Reflet could guess. Reflet slowly walked up to Liz, trying not to upset the fancy woman any further. "Ah, excuse me, what about these?" Reflet said quietly as she tapped on Liz's shoulder, showing her the clothes she wanted to buy.

"Go for it, try them on!" Liz showed her to one of the changing rooms, closing the door behind her and letting her change in peace.

Reflet let out a sigh, thankful she was away from the blonde girl, Maribelle, for a moment. She took off her baggy jacket and shirt, looking into the mirror inside the changing room. And there she could see it, that her chest was small and completely flat. Reflet's mind started to sink for a moment before she shook her head, slipping into the new blue shirt Liz promised she would buy. It was a long sleeve shirt that was colored a soft, palish-blue at the top half, and a cream-colored white past the stomach region and at the lower half of the sleeves. It flowed down to just above her upper thighs, and it's sleeves were so long that they wrapped themselves around her palms. She looked back into the mirror, smiling once she saw herself in the reflection. Reflet put her jacket on for just a moment, wanting to see how they would look together. Her hood was big enough and her shirt was cute enough that, for a moment, it felt like her lack of an upper chest didn't seem so bad to her.

Reflet then took a look at her new black tights. She had to take off the skirt-like piece of clothing on herself first, however, undoing the belts as she slipped it off of herself, leaving her in a pair of baggy white pants of the same color and style as her shirt. Now that she thought of it, every part of the outfit she was just wearing was extremely baggy. Long sleeves that hid her arms, pants that hid her legs, and a hood that hid her face. Maybe it was the case that before she had amnesia, she didn't like people staring at her body. Reflet tugged on the hood on her head. In a way, the hood felt safe to her, like it was protecting her from people trying to hurt her. Plus, it also made her feel really cute, soft and warm.

"Reflet, are you okay?" Liz asked through the door.

"Oh, coming!" she said. She quickly undid her skirt-thingy, taking it and her pants off as she quickly tried to slip into her tights. Unfortunately for her, she realized instantly that tights were not something someone could get into easily, let alone her. She fumbled around on the bench inside the changing room, kicking her feet up and down to as she struggled to wiggle into her new pants. She actually fell off the bench, hitting the floor as she nearly pulled them up to her butt. "Oww!"

"Reflet? Do you need me to come in there?" Liz asked again.

"Sorry, I'm fine!" she said as she managed to get them past her butt and to her lower waist. She got herself back on her feet, taking a large breath in relief over that being over. Reflet smiled, though it was a hassle to get into them, they felt amazing to wear. They were really soft and fit snug on her legs, and she would wear them all the time if she could. She just needed to make sure she wouldn't hit the floor getting into them, of course.

"Okay, what do you think?" she asked Liz, as she came out of the changing room. She quickly grew shy, taking her hood off to let Liz see her new clothes. Liz turned to face her, her eyes beaming in delight once she saw Reflet's new outfit.

"You look adorable!" Liz said, letting out a squeal as she hugged her tightly.

"Eep, you really think so?" she said, covering her face with her hand as she felt a smile on her lips.

"Really! You're so cute Reflet!" Liz squeezed her tighter as she rubbed her face on Reflet's cheek, making Reflet start to giggle.

"Hmph, forgive me for intruding, but just who is she, my darling?" Maribelle said, walking up to them quickly. The fancy woman's tone was even more irritated than it was earlier. Unsure of what she did, Reflet tried to back away, only to be pulled in closer by Liz.

"This is Reflet, she's my new friend!" Lissa said, poking her in the cheek. "Boop."

"I see, well I'm Lissa's _best_ friend. Do make sure to remember that next time you hug her." Maribelle snagged Liz away from her, hugging her in a very protective manner. The way she spoke told her that she was given an order, not a suggestion. "Where on Earth did you find her, anyway?" she asked Liz.

Liz shrugged. "On the floor? We kind of just found her while we were heading down south."

"On the floor?" Maribelle looked at her with a flabbergasted expression. "Is she at least of noble birth? Perhaps that could be her one saving grace."

Liz shrugged again. "If she is, then we don't know. We don't really know anything about her. Even she doesn't know who she is."

"I see, so then she's a commoner for all we know. It makes sense, a Ylissean noblewoman has never worn that cloak she wears." Maribelle scoffed, turning away from the two of them as she went back to buy more clothes. "If anyone like her was of noble birth, they would be a disgrace to nobility itself."

Reflet frowned. Those comments made by Liz's best friend hit her hard.

"Aww, Reflet. Don't feel too bad about Maribelle," Liz said. She pat Reflet on the head, taking her to the counter as she paid for their clothes. "That was just... Maribelle being Maribelle. She gets defensive of me because we grew up together. Give her a chance to be your friend later. Really, she's a sweet woman when you get to know her."

"But she called me a disgrace for bumping into her..." Reflet said, those words eating into her heart.

Liz looked down at the ground, before looking back at her. "Reflet, I'm going to have a talk with Maribelle later. But first, I want to show you something." Liz stretched out her fifth finger on her right hand, bringing it towards her.

"What is that?" Reflet said.

"This is called a pinky promise. When you want to promise something to someone and you never want to break it, this is the type of promise you make." Liz extended Reflet's own pinky, before curling hers around hers. She locked the two fingers together, pulling them up and down once.

"I promise there's nothing wrong with you. You're not a disgrace." Liz closed her eyes as she said the promise. She opened them back up, giving a smile to Reflet.

Reflet stared at her pinky, then back at Liz with wide eyes. "Thank you..." she said as she returned a smile back. Reflet continued to linger on her own finger, curling it in the air as she etched Liz's words into her memory.

"You look happier now. Ready to go?" Liz said to her before she turned to her right.

"Yeah," Reflet said, before another question popped into her head. "Umm... excuse me, Liz?"

"What's up?" Liz asked, turning back to her.

"What are those... things, that you and Maribelle have?" she said, looking at the ground.

"What things?" Liz said, confused. Reflet gestured her hands over her chests, as if trying to clutch a nonexistent pair of her own.

"Oh, _oh._ " Liz raised her eyebrows as a cheeky smile formed on her face. "You're talking about breasts," she said in a quiet voice.

"I want them," she said as she put a finger to her chin and pouted.

" _Ohh."_ Liz smiled before immediately covering her mouth with a hand. "Umm... What do you mean by that?"

"Is there a way I can have those?"

" _Ohhh._ " Liz raised her head up, letting out a breath as she raised her eyebrows as high as she could.

"I don't have any, how do I get some for myself?" She put a hand in the middle of her chest, sliding it up and down to show her lack of breasts.

"Oh." Liz let out a snicker that turned into a laugh, taking her hand off her face. Her face was completely burning red. Was she okay?

"Well, Reflet," Liz said, coughing in her sleeve before continuing. "Breasts are something that most girls get during puberty, which is somewhere around the early to late teens for girls. It's a little rare for a girl like you in their late teens to go through puberty now though. You might not get much breast growth in the future, if any at all."

"Oh." That made Reflet's heart sink like a stone dropping into a lake.

"Hey, don't feel too bad, Reflet. You're still a girl even if you don't have breasts. I mean, mine aren't that big and I'm fully grown." Liz hugged her, trying to make her feel better.

She bunched her arms up together within the hug. "Are you sure I am?" Reflet said, growing unsure of herself.

Liz nodded, hugging her tighter. "Reflet, unless you tell me you were not one, then I'm one-hundred percent, absolutely sure that you are a girl. There's nothing wrong with having no breasts."

"Alright, but, still, I hope I get them," Reflet said softly, tapping her index fingers together.

"That's perfectly fine, Reflet." Liz said as she let go of her, reassuring her. "Oh! It's them!" She tapped her shoulder, telling her to look towards where she was pointing. Reflet looked her way, spotting two women who were shopping for clothes. The first, a tall, brunette woman in purple clothes. So tall in fact, she was even taller than Frederick. The other was a redhead only somewhat taller than Reflet, in a beautiful red outfit. They both wore hair accessories in the shape of a wing on their heads, the brunette wearing a winged headband and the redhead wearing a wing hairclip on the left side of her head.

"Oh, wow..." Reflet squeaked. They were pretty too, very pretty like Maribelle was, Reflet thought. She felt her cheeks getting warmer, with it becoming somewhat hard to stare at them. And just like the other girls they also had breasts, making Reflet feel nervous, insecure and hot in the face again.

"I think this would be rather pretty on me, Cordie," the brunette said as she raised a pink skirt.

"Then you should buy it. I'll get this one instead." The redhead pulled out a green shirt from the rack, showing it to the brunette. "What do you think?"

"Hey Sumia! Hey Cordie, how are you two?" Liz said as she waved to the two girls, dragging Reflet as she went up to them.

"Hi Lissa, who is she?" The brunette said, pointing to Reflet.

"This is Reflet, say hi to these girls!" she said, gesturing to Reflet for her to introduce herself.

"Hello there, I'm Cordelia, or Cordie for short," the redhead said, giving her a pretty smile.

"I'm Sumia," the brunette said, giving a quick bow.

"Umm, hi, I'm… girls- I mean, I'm Reflet. I'm not Reflet, I'm just girls. I mean-" she stammered, unable to properly form words. They were just so pretty she didn't know what to say.

Cordelia let out a laugh. "We get the picture. Yes, we are all girls."

"Yes, girls, of which we all are," Liz added.

"If you're here, Lissa, then does that mean Chrom is here too?" Sumia said. "I'm hoping I get to see him again."

"Uh, yeah. D-do you know where he might be? It's not like I want to see him or anything, but I just want to make sure he's safe. He's the prince after all, I have to make sure my prince— I mean the prince is safe." Cordelia hugged her arms as she began to play with her hair, fidgeting with it as she wrapped it around her fingers.

"He's uhhh…" Liz let out a small giggle as she looked around for where Chrom might be.

"Yea! Fight!" someone outside shouted. A crowd began to form as more voices began to chant "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Liz looked towards the crowd, raising her eyebrow as she realized what was going on.

"I think there," Liz said, pointing to the crowd. The five of them made their way into the crowd, finding Chrom locked in a fist fight with a spiky-haired blonde man with tan skin who was not wearing a shirt. The man was very muscular, and much bigger than Chrom, and herself even moreso. Reflet crouched as she put a hand to the ground, trying to avoid being hit by the arms of the wild, too noisy crowd.

"Who's the blonde guy?" she asked, turning her head upwards towards Liz.

"That's Vaike, he's one of my brother's best friends. Let's watch!" They watched as Chrom slid backwards after blocking a hit, rushing back in as he delivered a headbutt to the other man's head.

"Wooh! Go for the win this time, Vaike!" Liz cheered as she shouted at Vaike.

"Hey Liz!" Vaike said just before Chrom threw another punch at him. He caught the blow at the wrist, pulling Chrom towards him as he kneed him in the stomach. Chrom coughed violently just as he grabbed the blonde man by the head, smashing him twice with his fist before backing away.

"Heheh... He's really going at it," Cordie said. Reflet turned around, finding the girl seemingly lost in a daze while she stared at Chrom.

"Huh?" Reflet asked. "Going at it?"

"He's just so… hahh…" Cordelia let out a sigh, not finishing the sentence.

"He's just so what?" Reflet parroted.

"It's nothing, it's just," she stopped, letting out another sigh. "Chrom..." Reflet wasn't sure if she understood what Cordelia was saying. What was it about Chrom that made her get like that?

"Alright! I win!" Chrom said. Reflet turned around to see him raising his fist in the air, standing over the blonde man who was struggling to get up. Liz walked up to Vaike, pulling him up by the arm as she cast a spell on him.

"Thanks, Liz." Vaike gave Chrom a handshake, taking out some coins from a small bag in his pocket and handing them to him. "I'll be making double that the next time we fight, watch!"

"Good luck, that's assuming I won't kick your ass again," Chrom said, flipping a coin before stuffing the rest into his pocket. "That makes us two to one this week." The crowd around them began to scatter, leaving only Reflet and the others as they went to approach the two Chrom and Vaike.

"Chrom!" Sumia opened her arms as she ran up to Chrom, only to trip on her own feet, tumbling over as her face hit the ground.

"Woah, Sumia! Are you okay?" Chrom picked her off the ground, holding her gently between his arms.

"I'm fine." Sumia's eyes lingered on him for a while before she quickly pulled herself away. "Sorry about that, captain. I should've been more careful."

"Alright. Still, if anything hurts, go see a nurse or a healer, okay?"

Sumia brushed the dirt off her shoulder, giving a small smile back at him. "Thanks."

"Yeah, of course," Chrom said as his eyes turned to the redhead next to Reflet. "Cordie!"

"Oh-uh, h-hi, Chrom," Cordie waved nervously at him. "It's good that you're back, you know."

"How are you? Have you been doing alright?" He walked up to her, giving her a nice-looking smile.

"Yeah, I was just doing some-somethings with Maribelle and Sumia when we m-met R-reflet," Cordie said, pointing a finger towards her.

"You met her? Isn't she great?" Chrom brought Reflet in for a hug, ruffling up her hair with his hand.

"M-meep," she squeaked reactively.

"Y-yea, she seems nice. I hope you two have fun together." For a moment, Reflet caught a glimpse of a frown on her lips, only for it to be wiped away by a smile.

"Thanks," Chrom said, giving her a smile back. "Listen, I've been meaning to ask you lately, but maybe we could hang out?"

"H-hang out?" Cordie's face turned a bright shade of red as she started to stammer. "Uhh, I just remembered Phila asked me to go deliver something to uhh… Miriel! Look at that I'm already late! Bye Chrom!" Cordelia bolted away from them, making her way back to the palace.

"Oh… alright, later Cordie." Chrom weakly waved at the girl leaving him, huffing out a sad-sounding breath. "...Dang it."

"What's wrong?" Reflet asked, upset that her friend was upset.

"It's just I've been trying to ask her to hang out for a while now. But she's always busy." Chrom slumped his shoulders, looking down at the road underneath their feet.

"Oh," she said, "I hope you get to talk soon."

"Thanks. Let's just keep looking at the rest of the shops here." Chrom straightened his back as the two of them wandered around the shops, eyeing whatever caught their interest. Reflet's eye was caught by one particular shop which had lots of books inside. She made her way to the door, only to accidentally bump into a burgundy haired boy just as he left the building. The boy lost his balance, dropping the box in his hands as its contents spilled to the ground. The box was filled with several colorful books, most of them looking quite similar to the book in her jacket.

"Hey! Come on, watch where you're going! Now you've spilled my books!" The redhead boy dropped down on his knees, getting to work as he started putting the scattered books back in the box.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you!" she said.

"It's okay, just be more careful in the future." The boy pointed to the book that landed furthest away from them. "Get me that one book over there please?"

She picked up the book for him, looking at the brown cover with the star symbol on it. "What's it about?"

"You never seen a Flash tome before?" the boy said as he took the book off her hands, giving her a confused look.

"Flash tome? Sorry, but what do those words mean?"

"Gahhh," he groaned, "okay, so Flash is a basic-level Light magic spell. Tomes are just what we sometimes call magic books. They store magic so we don't have to cast it ourselves. Look, I don't have the time to explain it, I have to get back to the palace and deliver the rest of these books to the court wizards." The boy passed the book back to her. "Here, I was supposed to find someone to give this to. You take it, it'll explain itself to you by the time you finish reading it." the boy got back up as he put the last book in the box, heading back to the direction of the palace. "Thanks for the help."

Reflet furled her eyebrows as she stared at the burgundy-haired boy taking off, still unsure of what just happened or what he just said. She then looked down at the brown book in her hands, opening it to find a table of contents. Flicking through the book, it seemed like it was the same kind of book as her yellow Thunder tome.

"Emm!" she heard Liz shout. Liz ran down the market road, hugging a tall, blonde woman who looked like an older version of her. Beside the blonde woman was a woman with sky blue hair, who closely watched the two girls hugging. Reflet put the book in the second pocket in her jacket, heading over to where Liz was.

"Liz! You've returned!" the tall woman said, before looking at Reflet. "And who might she be? Is she a new friend of yours?"

Liz looked back at her, giving her a wave. "Yep! Meet Reflet!" Liz ran up to Reflet, pulling her.

"Woah!" Reflet said as she was dragged all the way to the older woman.

"Hello, I'm Liz's older sister." The older lady definitely looked like Liz, but carried herself in a gentle, refined manner. She wore a long, beautiful white robe with a green, sagely cloak over it. Her hair loosely flowed down to her elbows, unlike Liz's shorter pigtails. On her head was a halo-like headband, and on her forehead was the same mark that was on Chrom's shoulder. If she had to describe it, it looked like a flame atop a pedestal. It was unusual, definitely, but it added to the elegant aura she had to her. But the thing Reflet noticed most of all were her blue eyes. They might've been the warmest thing Reflet had ever seen. It was as if she was staring into the clear sky above.

"Oh, ahhh, hiiiii." Reflet felt her face burn as she stared at the woman in awe. Every part of the woman was simply gorgeous. Reflet didn't know how to react. She didn't even know what her brain was trying to tell her after seeing all these women.

"I see you found a rather charming friend, Liz." Emm giggled at her, patting her on the head. "I'm sure she'll enjoy the company of the Princess of Ylisse."

"Princess?" Stunned by the revelation, Reflet slowly turned around to face the blonde girl behind her. "Y-you're a p-princess, Liz?"

"Wait, you didn't know?" Liz raised an eyebrow as she snickered. "Well Reflet, I, Liz, am indeed a princess. Just so you know, Chrom's a prince and Emmeryn's our queen."

"Emmeryn? But that's the name Chrom told me…" Reflet looked back at the woman in front of her, realizing that she was wearing a _crown,_ not a headband. "Oh, o-oh dear. I didn't realize that at all…" She said dumbfoundedly before she realized the gravity of what she just said. "Wait, I didn't realize at all! Forgive me, Queen Emmeryn!" She knelt before the queen, desperately trying to apologize for how foolish her mistake was.

"There is no need to kneel before me. Please, I wish for you to see me as an equal, not as your queen." Emmeryn brought her up by the chin, staring into her eyes in a soft, gentle way that was inviting yet not commanding. Reflet continued to stare in awe at the much, much taller and beautiful woman in front of her, before darting her eyes to the floor as she grew even more embarrassed.

"It seems she's rather shy." Emmeryn giggled, petting her hair once again as she gave her a terribly cute smile. "Well, she isn't the first. How did you befriend her, Liz?"

"We met her on the road to Southside when she helped us fight off bandits," Liz said. "She doesn't have a clue as to what's she doing, cause she has amnesia. We're actually trying to help sort her out."

"Amnesia?" Emmeryn gasped. "Is that true?"

"Yeah," Lissa replied. "It's crazy, but she doesn't remember anything - not even her name. 'Reflet's just what she came up with when we found her. She apparently knows how to use magic, but it's a little finicky since she forgot what magic is for the most part. Kinda weird, huh?"

"I would think so as well. It certainly is a unique set of circumstances. I wonder what stories were held in her old life…" Emmeryn put a finger on her chin, before nodding at Liz. "But, I will do my best to help her adjust to her new one here."

"Thank you…" Reflet nodded sheepishly as Emmeryn gave her another warm smile. Emmeryn looked past her, smiling as something caught her attention.

"Chrom! Freddy!" Emmeryn said. Reflet turned around, spotting her blue and brown-haired friends heading their way.

"Emm!" Chrom said, hugging his older sister. "Oh, hey Phila!" he said to the sky-blue haired woman standing beside her.

"So Freddy?" Emmeryn said, pulling away from Chrom as she wrapped her arms around Frederick's shoulders. "Have my siblings been good children?"

"Hey, I'm not a child anymore Emmeryn, I'm an adult now!" Chrom objected.

"You're my little brother, you will always be a child to me," Emmeryn said, ruffling his hair as she smiled at him.

"They have been on their best behavior," Frederick said as he held an evil-looking smile. "That is to say, they have been horrible and deserve a million punishments. I say we start by taking away their cake for dinner."

Lissa puffed her cheeks in protest. "Liar! No we haven't! And don't take away our cakes! After yesterday I need to eat something delicious!"

"Now-now, I'm sure you both have been very wonderful children," Emmeryn sqaid as she giggled. "I'm so glad that you three have returned home!"

"What brings you outside the palace?" Frederick asked, pulling away from her.

"I simply wished to learn more about my own people," Emmeryn said. "You know I prefer being outside the palace so that I may meet them directly. After all, a ruler should look after her people personally so that she may best know how to take care of their needs."

"Hmm… I'm still unsure if you should still keep taking these trips. You're our Exalt, after all. You know you could very well be attacked on the street by someone with ill intentions."

"You worry too much, Frederick the Wary." Emmeryn said as she waved her hand up and down at him. "I'm alright, You know that I can defend myself. Plus, Phila has been keeping a rather close watch on me. Right, Phila?" she said, turning to the sky-blue haired woman behind her.

"As usual, not a single person has attacked the Exalt. Anyone foolish enough to try would be swiftly dealt with." Phila raised her chin up, giving a nod to Frederick.

"Yeah, Freddy, you do worry too much," Chrom said as a smirk began to grow on his face. "You know, with how much you worry, we should start calling you Frederick the _Worry_ instead." He put both his hands on his waist, putting on a goofy open-mouthed smile as he tilted his head towards Frederick.

"Pbbt… pfft!" Reflet started giggling like a madwoman. "That… What was that?! Hahahah!" Reflet fell to her knees, barely able to contain her laughter. Emmeryn laughed hard as well, while Lissa groaned loudly in agony, upset with her brother.

Frederick looked at Chrom as he took a single deep breath. "...I hate you," he said, flaring his eyebrows as he spoke.

There was a chuckle in Chrom's words as he spoke, "Emm, listen, we have important news to tell you. Let's head back to the palace, we'll have an easier time talking there." Emmeryn nodded, with Chrom telling them all to head back to palace.

* * *

Marth blinked his eyes open. "Huh?" he said, rolling over to his side. He was on a bed? When did he get in it? Why was he asleep?

"Dear gods, where am I?" Marth looked around the room when he realized just where exactly he was. This was the infirmary.

 _Oh dear gods no._ He wasn't supposed to be here yet.

"Are you okay? You're in the Iris Palace." There was a woman in a white hood standing next to her. She must have been one of the palace clerics.

"What day and year is it?" he said, panic escaping in his voice.

"March 5th, 1873, why?" the nurse replied.

 _Dear Naga, he was out for the entire night._ He bit his tongue, cursing himself for how much he'd deviated from his plans.

"I need to go." He left the room, making his way towards the exit.

"Hey, wait!" the nurse called him. He didn't pay attention to her words, trying to focus on what to do now instead. He'd already lost half a day's worth of travel, which he would need if he was going to make it to West Ferox in time. He didn't have a horse with him either, he'd have to find some way to get one on the road. But even if he did, that wasn't the only problem he'd have to deal with. He'd still have to defeat Lon'qu, and then he'd have to make sure he—

"Oh, Marth, you're awake!"

 _Crap!_ Marth turned around, finding Chrom on his way to the throne room alongside the other members of the royal family, Phila and Reflet. He recognized Phila, but he still didn't recognize the girl in the black hood.

"Are you feeling okay?" Chrom said. "You passed out after you saved us yesterday. You should be taking it easy." He turned to the tall blonde woman beside him, pointing his hands at Marth. "Emm, this is Marth."

"E-Emm?" Marth blinked, his mouth dropping as he stare at the tall, blonde woman beside Chrom. She looked just like what his uncle told her. He stood there, frozen and unsure of what to say to her.

"I'm Emmeryn, Emm is what my brother calls me," Emmeryn said before she turned to Chrom. "So, what new information do you bring, Chrom?"

"Let me start from the beginning." Chrom took out a note from the back pocket of his black pants and showed it to her. "It looks like I was right. These bandit raids were the work of Plegia." Chrom's face was serious now. He crossed his arms, handing it to her. "What do you think? Will we have to go to war after all?"

Emmeryn took a long look at the letter in her hands, her face worried by its contents. "I can only hope things don't get any worse, but we must prepare ourselves just in case the worst does come to happen. I will host a meeting with the council immediately. We will seek an audience from the Khans of Ferox so that we may establish an alliance with them."

"I was thinking the same thing," Chrom said. "If we take carriages we can get there quicker. Now, there is something else important that we need to tell you. Just last night, we were taking a break in the forest down south when an earthquake struck, taking us all by surprise."

"An earthquake?" Emmeryn gasped as she stared at her siblings and Frederick. "Are you all okay?"

"Yes, we're all alive and safe, but we wouldn't have been if not Marth." Chrom said, pointing to him.

"M-me?" Marth stammered, surprised at having his attention be called for.

"Yeah," Chrom said, "while we were escaping the forest, these two zombie-like things attacked us." Chrom put a hand to his head, shaking his head in disbelief. "They looked human, but their bodies were unnatural. Their eyes unnaturally glowed a dark shade of purple, and they could snap their necks all the way to their back. And strangest of all was that they were unusually resilient to pain. I landed several mortal wounds on them and yet they still kept going for much longer than anyone should have been able to. There was no way those things were alive."

"There hasn't been any undead in Ylisse in two hundred years, or in Archanea," Emmeryn said, lost in thought as she bit her thumb.

"Yeah, I managed to kill one of them, but then the other one snuck up on Liz. If not for Marth, she wouldn't be here today."

"Liz…" Emmeryn turned to Lissa, terror showing through her eyes. "You almost died?" she moved over to her younger sister, pulling her into a tight, protective hug.

"It's… It's going to be okay, Emmeryn. I'm not going to d-die on any of you." Lissa patted the back of her sister, making her best effort to seem as if she was not struggling to breathe. "Alright, that's enough Emm!"

"It's just, you're my sister. I can't stand the thought of losing you, or Chrom, or Frederick!" Emmeryn said. "You're my family!" She continued to squeeze her, shedding a single tear before finally pulling away as she turned to face Marth.

"Ah, forgive me," Emmeryn said, wiping tbe tear off her face. "Thank you, for rescuing my sister. Please, if there is anything you need, you need only to ask."

"T-thank you," he said, turning his head away from them as he felt a blush on his cheeks. "B-but I have no time for such matters. I-I need to head to Ferox immediately."

"Oh, then maybe we can give you a ride?" Chrom said.

Marth blinked behind his mask. "Excuse me, w-what?"

"Yeah, it's probably faster than walking and it didn't seem like you had a horse with you. A carriage ride is nothing compared to what you've already done for my family."

Marth stopped, taking a long time to consider the offer. On one hand, he said to himself many times that he was to have minimal contact with the Shepherds. There was too much danger in getting close to them to risk it. On the other hand, he was already half a day behind on his schedule, and it'd be a stretch to even reach West Ferox in time at this rate. He also didn't have another method of travel, least of all quicker than a horse-drawn carriage. He quietly hissed through his teeth; he didn't like doing so, but taking their offer was probably the best way to get his plans back in order. It was probably that he'd be too late to join the West-Khan's team. That meant he'd have to join the East Khan's team, and fight alongside them.

He closed his eyes, letting out a breath as he opened them again. "Very well, thank you," he said quietly.

"Well alright then, that's settled," Chrom said. "Emmeryn, let's get this council meeting started so we can head out."

"I'll notify the other council members immediately," Phila said, heading into the council room with Chrom in tow.

"Right, let's begin," Emmeryn said, following after them.

"Of course, Milady." Frederick nodded, making his way to the room as well.

"Bye guys!" Chrom turned around, firing off two finger guns at them as he entered the room in a humorous manner.

"...Pfft." Marth chuckled under his breath at Chrom's ridiculousness when a smile curled at his lips. He quickly shoved those emotions back down however, keeping his face straighter than before. He made his way to the courtyard, trying to distance himself from the rest of them.


	4. In Honor of the General

Cordelia made it to the training courtyard of the palace, picking up a practice sword to strike at her favorite training dummy.

"Oh, hey Cordie!" someone said. Cordie looked behind her to see Liz heading her way, alongside Reflet, her and Chrom's friend.

She waved at them, waiting for them to reach her. "Hey you two."

"I thought you'd still be at the market with Sumia and Maribelle. Did something happen?" Liz asked.

"I was, until I was called back to the palace to do something," she said with a blush on her cheeks. That was a lie, but the truth was too embarrassing to say. She didn't have the guts to tell her that she ran away from Chrom because she got too flustered to talk to him.

"That makes sense," Liz said with a nod. "I saw you saying hi to Chrom earlier. How'd that go?"

Cordelia blushed. "G-good. We just talked about… stuff," she said in a way that she knew was awkward. Even talking about him was enough to make her nervous. "So, what about you, Reflet?" she said, trying to change the subject. "Have you ever swung at a training dummy?"

"Me?" Reflet said, pointing a finger to her chin. "Never, or at least, I don't know. But, I could try." Reflet took Cordelia's practice sword from her, getting into range of the dummy. "Hah!" she shouted as she swung at the dummy. She did land a strike, but admittedly it wasn't an attack Cordelia would be proud of if she made it herself. Reflet even stumbled somewhat during the recoil, losing her balance like a beginner.

"Your stance is all disorderly. Spread your feet a little more apart." Cordie helped her out, grabbing her arms and legs and moving into a more proper stance. "Here, try it now."

"Eep, umm, okay." Reflet swung at the training dummy once more, this time keeping her balance as the blade bounced back.

"That's a little better," Cordie said, smiling at the girl's improvement.

"Thanks," Reflet said, smiling back at her.

"And thank Mr. Dum-Dum, too," Liz said to Reflet, pointing to the training dummy.

"Mr. Dum-Dum?" Reflet said with a quick snicker of laughter. "Why's he named that?"

"We all just decided one day that that would be his name." She straightened her back up, giving a salute to Mr. Dum-Dum. "Thank you for your outstanding performance General Dum-Dum." She grabbed Mr. Dum-Dum by the hand, making him give a salute to her.

"It has been an honor to serve you during these many excellent years of service, Commander Elizabeth," Mr. Dum-Dum said as Liz did her best impression of what she thought a war general might sound like.

"I hope I can strive to perform as well as he did, now that I have taken his position." Cordelia bowed at both Liz and the dummy, before the three of them giggled and snickered to each other, unable to keep up the act.

"So, Reflet, how did you meet Liz?" Cordie asked.

"We were in a village down south when it got attacked by these bandits," she answered. "So I followed Chrom and helped him defeat them with magic. So then he asked me what I was going to do after that, and I told him I didn't have any idea of what I was doing. I told him I didn't know what I was doing, and so he decided to make me a Shepherd just like that."

Cordelia laughed. "That does sound like a Chrom move. The world record for the fastest time making a friend belongs to the three of those siblings in a three way tie." Reflet seemed a little less shy than she did before. Maybe she was getting used to being around her. She hoped so, she liked to think she was a nice person.

"Hey, more friends, more fun!" Liz said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Now I have a Cordelia, a Donny, and a Reflet. One more and I get a free cookie!" she said, making the three of them laugh again.

"So who exactly is the blue-haired guy in the mask?" Cordelia said as she turned towards the man swinging a sword into the air in the corner of the courtyard. She had never seen him before, but she was curious as to why he was wearing a mask.

"His name is Marth!" Liz said as her eyes lit up. "He saved me while we were out in the field!"

"Wait, really?" Cordelia said. "Wow, I'm really glad he saved you then."

"Yeah! From out of nowhere, he jumped in to save me at the last second! And he was super cool while doing it!" Her smile shifted into one which was more cheeky. "Plus, I mean he is a little pretty, right?"

"I guess so, but it's hard to tell with that mask hiding most of his features," Cordelia said.

"Well the mask just makes him mysterious and cool! Like one of those masked knights who always appear to rescue the girl just in time to save the day!"

Cordelia snickered. "Did you read that in your novel last night?"

"Maybe!" Liz put her hands on her hips defensively. "Reflet, are masked guys hot?" she said, turning to her.

"Hot? What's that mean?" Reflet asked curiously.

"Yeah, like, do they make your cheeks hot and warm? That's what happens when a person is hot. It means you like them physically." Liz turned back to Cordelia. "But masked guys are hot!"

"Is that why it happens?" Reflet looked down contemplatively, as if realizing something about herself. She then looked back up, staring at Marth as she squinted. "I don't know, I mean I guess he's pretty?"

Cordelia gave them a shrug. "I guess masked guys are kinda hot. But I don't go out of my way to look for romance novels with guys in masks."

"Then who do you find hot?" Liz asked.

"You'd have to guess that," she snickered to her boy-crazy friend.

"Alright, let's go!" Liz said as she fanned her hands twice. "Gimme three tries, and I'll buy you lunch later if I lose!"

"Hmmm…" Cordelia tilted her head slightly. "Well, I do like people buying me stuff for free. If you don't tell anyone, sure."

"Alright!" Liz said as she put her hand on her chin, ready to begin. "Hmm… Vaike?"

"He's a bit too buff for me," Cordelia said, shrugging.

"Freddy?"

She lazily waved her hand as she shook her head. "Maybe if he wasn't so serious all the time."

"That one butler with ginger hair?"

"Nah, he's cute but he's pretty filthy a lot of the time."

"Welp, dang it," Liz said with a shrug and a smile, admitting defeat. "My fourth one was gonna be Chrom."

Cordelia wheezed loudly as Liz took the breath out of her. "Why him?" she groaned in pain.

"I don't know, just a hunch." The smile on her face grew wider than before. "So, when do you want that lunch?"

Cordelia continued coughing just as Chrom entered the courtyard. He had gathered most of the Shepherds with him, including a new one, a boy with purplish-black hair and a pot on his head.

" _Oh crap,"_ Cordelia said under her breath as she covered her blushing cheeks. She watched as they came over to the three of them, with Chrom looking at her excitedly.

"Hey, you three!" Chrom said.

"Oh, h-hi, Chrom. What's up, again?" she said, stumbling over her words.

"Hey, Cordie, did you finish what Miriel sent you to do?" he said, smiling at her as he turned to the redhead mage in the large hat who had followed him.

Mariel looked Cordelia in the eyes with a confused look on her face. "Hmm? I cannot recall any requests for her to assist me." Cordelia bit her finger, desperately wishing her cover wasn't blown.

 _"Miriel, help me please,"_ she mouthed silently. Miriel blinked at her before gasping silently as she turned away, having got the message.

"But I must deal with many requests and tasks," Miriel said as she pushed up her glasses, trying to avoid eye contact with both herself and Chrom. "On occasion, I have been known to lose track of them. Cordelia, I would request that we discuss this another time. Now, what have you gathered us here for, Chrom?"

" _Gods, thank you Miriel,_ " she whispered under her breath. Hyperfocused and somewhat distant as she was, Miriel did seem to understand what she was trying to tell her a fair amount of the time.

"Yeah, Chrom, what are we doin'?" Vaike said.

Chrom gestured for Reflet and the purple-haired boy to stand next to him, and they followed suit "So first, I'd like you to say hi to our newest Shepherds. Meet Reflet and Donny, everyone! Donny is a farm boy from Southtown, and we don't know where Reflet is from because she's an amnesiac."

"Sweet! New Shepherds!" Vaike cheered as he walked up to Donny, raising his fist to his own. "Name's Vaike, come on, hit me!"

Donny chuckled, raising his fist for a fist bump. "Heh, alright!" He hit Vaike's fist with all his might, fanning his hand in pain from the recoil. "Gah! You sure are mighty strong!"

"I sure am!" Vaike said, flexing his muscles. "Gimme a month and the Vaike'll make you at least half as strong as himself!"

Donny rubbed his knuckles, looking at Vaike with a confident smile. "Alright Vaike, sir! I wanna be the strongest man I can be!"

Vaike turned to Reflet, raising his fist once again. "So, tiny mage? Give me your best shot!"

"Me? Umm, okay." Reflet nodded as she pulled her arm back, hitting her tiny hand against Vaike's much larger one. Vaike deliberately slowed his fist before he hit her, not wanting to hurt someone who was clearly weaker than him.

"You got it!" Vaike said, pumping the air and giving her a big smile. Reflet let out a small giggle, smiling at the action.

"This woman is an amnesiac?" Miriel said with a glint in her eye. "This is beyond intriguing, I've yet to have the chance to meet a person who's been afflicted by such a condition." She quickly stepped over to Reflet, looking like she'd just found a gold mine. "Do you mind if I ask you a favor? I would like to record your behavior in my book. I wish to see how one with such an affliction would behave in a myriad of circumstances. May I ask you a few questions for research? I'd like to study your behavior so that I may record any findings I find."

"Umm, I guess if that would help you, then yes, sure?" Reflet said, slightly confused and anxious.

"I cannot thank you enough, Reflet. I will assist you in any way I am able to in appreciation." The researcher adjusted her large wizard hat, turning away from her with a smile on her face.

"So Chrom, we are all present. What do you need?" Maribelle asked as she caught a glance at Reflet, narrowing her brows at her. Reflet pulled up her jacket's hood, trying to avoid her gaze.

"Alright, everyone listen up and settle down," Chrom said. He raised his hand up, waiting until things quieted down. "In a few hours, we'll be travelling towards Regna Ferox. Emmeryn has asked the Shepherds to establish an alliance with the Khans of the kingdoms. I'll explain more once we start heading out. Now, this is a volunteer mission, so if there's any—"

"I'm going!" Liz said, becoming the first to join on the mission.

"You can count me in!" Vaike added. "Watch, the Vaike's gonna carry this mission all on his own!"

"Ooh! Yeah, we should totally let him do it alone! I wanna see him fail!" Liz quipped.

"Yeah!… Hey, wait!" Vaike said as he caught on to Liz's remark, earning him a round of laughter from some of the other Shepherds. Including Liz, whose laughter was most evil-sounding in the group.

"And are you two coming?" Chrom said as he turned to Cordelia and Sumia.

"Me? Oh-uh, sure! Sounds fun!" Cordie said, nervously laughing at him. She then took two steps away from him, turning her head around as she chided herself for her nervousness. She couldn't just talk to him like a normal person, could she?

"Of course I'll come, Captain," Sumia said. Cordelia peeked her head back over to them, watching as Sumia gave Chrom a really sweet, almost romantic looking hug.

Cordelia felt a small twist starting to form in her stomach as she let out a sigh. She was happy for her friend, and didn't want anything bad for Sumia or Chrom. But it was one thing in a long list of things that she wanted to do with Chrom that just couldn't happen.

"And what about you, Reflet?" Chrom said, turning to face her.

Reflet turned back to him, taking off her hood as the frown on her face quickly replaced itself with a warm smile. "Of course! I like being around you, and everyone else, too!" She was beaming with happiness as she spoke, staring warmly into Chrom's eyes.

Cordelia sighed again, turning further away from them. This girl had a crush on him, too, didn't she? How could she not? Chrom had everything a girl could want. He was strong, cute, and he was a prince too. She wouldn't be surprised if they weren't the only ones in the Shepherds who wanted to be with him.

"Now is there anyone else who can't come?" Chrom asked.

"I, for one, cannot go," Maribelle said as she spoke up. "Forgive me, though I would love to journey alongside you and Lissa and everyone else, I must return to Themis immediately. I'm to investigate the bandits that keep attacking the villages in the region. I'm sorry, but I cannot accompany you all."

Chrom nodded at her. "That's more than understandable. Alright everyone, let's get ready to head out!" The rest of the Shepherds shouted in agreement, all excited to go to Ferox. Suddenly however, Cordelia heard someone shouting all the way from the entrance to the training courtyard.

"Wait up!" they said. She recognized it as Ricken's voice, which was confirmed by the large blue hat on his head and the yellow magic book in his hands.

"Ahh crap," Chrom said under his breath. He whirled around, taking notice of the young mage who had arrived. Ricken stopped on a dime, looking extremely eager to see Chrom.

"I heard from Emmeryn you all are going on a mission to Ferox! Is that true? Can I come with?" Ricken said.

"Sorry Ricken," Chrom said, rubbing his neck as he shifted his head. "You're too young for this kind of mission."

"Too young? You're saying that again?" Ricken's excitement was quickly killed as he now looked at Chrom, his annoyance showing through his face. "But I'm skilled, strong and smart, and you know that!"

"I won't deny that, but like I said, you're too young." Chrom straightened his back, crossing his arms as he gave their friend a more serious look. "There are more things you need to learn before you're ready to go out on missions."

"...Fine, just leave me alone then," Ricken said in a low, pissed off voice as he stormed out of the courtyard without looking back at them. While Cordelia could understand Ricken's feelings, ultimately, Chrom was right.

Chrom sighed, now looking like his day was ruined. "Let's just go."

* * *

After Chrom made his announcement, the Shepherds had one more training session before they officially set out. On normal days the Shepherds were more lax in their training, but a mission like this demanded they'd take things seriously.

Or at least as serious as can be, Cordelia thought. By all accounts, the Shepherds looked and acted more like a group of friends training together rather than a single, unified squadron like the Falcon Knights. With good reason too, they _were_ a group of friends training together. Most of the Shepherds were either mid-late teenagers or young adults who grew up with one another, including herself. If Cordelia would have to sum it up, they basically were pseudo-mercenaries.

Admittedly, it was somewhat difficult for her to adjust after she left the Falcon Knights and joined the Shepherds. But after a few months, she could say she started to get the hang of the way her new group did things. The change of pace was made a lot easier thanks to Frederick, who managed to keep them in line long enough so that they could still function as an actual fighting force, instead of a bunch of goobers who didn't know what they're doing.

"Come on, everyone! It's the final stretch! Just 30 more seconds! 25! 20!" Freddy raised one knee high after the other, with everyone behind him following suit. "We're almost done with Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Session!"

"Going. To. Die." Reflet said, looking as if she was ready to fall down at any moment. Poor girl, she really has never done this before, hasn't she? Judging from the fact she was a mage, and her struggling to handle even this session, she probably spent more of her life indoors learning spells than she did physically training her body. That meant it was no surprise to see her struggle the way she did. Most of the mages were like that in the Shepherds, powerful magic, little endurance. With magic, you can fight on par with opponents much bigger and stronger than you, but if you didn't train your body at all, you'd be down for the count the moment you get hit.

Though, if she had to pick the most physically capable mage in the group, it'd be Ricken, he could at least hold his own in a sparring match. He barely ever won one, but fighting him was never an easy task. And really, the boy was only a year younger than Liz, he had plenty of years to catch up to the rest of them in physical strength. He might even surpass them soon enough if he kept to his training. He was something of a prodigy, being very adept in both swordplay and magic for someone his age.

But she didn't see him training anywhere. With how his argument with Chrom went, that was not too surprising.

"Three! Two! One! Good work!" Freddy said. He wiped the sweat off his brow, ending the training session with a wave of his hand.

Reflet dropped down to her knees. "Why. Wh…Why," she said, completely out of breath.

"Great effort, Reflet, you held on surprisingly well for your first time." Freddy said, handing Reflet a glass of water to drink. "Cordelia, Can you go and make sure all the supplies get loaded onto the wagons?" Freddy said as he turned to her. He always gave her the task to check their supplies, mainly because there was no one else he could trust to do so consistently.

"Yeah, I'll do it," she said. With that, Cordelia went to prepare the wagons, waiting for the others to arrive with Miriel being the first, carrying a medium sized bag with her.

"I will require most of my essentials while we're in Ferox," Miriel said as she put the bag inside the supply wagon.

"Sure, in the wagon it goes," Cordelia said as she gestured towards the wagon.

"As well as my research equipment," Miriel said as she took out a red box, putting it inside the wagon.

Cordelia nodded. "That's fine too." Miriel then grabbed a small bookcase, loading one more thing onto the wagon once more.

"I must not forget my spellbooks, either," Miriel said

"Hey wait, isn't that a little much?" Cordelia said, now confused. How much had she planned to take with her? Miriel left once more, returning once again with one more large bag.

"And more clothes," Miriel said.

"Miriel, we're only going to be away for like a week or two!" Cordelia said, now a little annoyed.

"I cannot afford to leave any of this here in Ylisse. It is much too important for my research," Miriel said as she put that bag inside the cart.

"Fine, go ahead," Cordelia said, giving up as Miriel went and grabbed another bag. "What's in that bag?"

"My wizard hats," she said.

Cordelia groaned. "Just put it in."

"Thank you," Miriel said. Cordelia helped her load her final bag into the wagon, with Miriel leaving soon afterwards. She took a seat on the edge of the wagon, picking up her inventory sheets as she leaned closer to it, checking off Miriel's supplies from the list of things loaded inside the wagon.

"Hey Cordie, I've got a question," someone asked her as they approached the wagon.

"Huh? Sure, what do you need?" Cordelia said, still looking down at the rest of her papers. "I'm just a little busy right now, I'll look up in a moment."

"Freddy said he wanted you to be his backup driver on the ride to Ferox," they said. "You're going to share the same carriage as us, is that alright? We're going to be in it for a while, just so you know."

"If that's what Frederick wants, then I have no complaints," she said. "Sure, I'll be there once I finish."

"Great! That's awesome! See you on the carriage, Cordie!" the person said excitedly, putting a hand on her.

"Huh?" Cordelia looked up at the person who touched her. _"Oh crap,"_ she said, her eyes widening as she realized it was Chrom.

"Is something wrong?" Chrom said as he pulled his hand away from her, looking at her with concern.

"Umm, nope!" she said, trying to pass her nervousness off as nothing. "I'm fine! I'll totally get on that carriage with you and Freddy and everyone! Don't worry about me, let me just finish things up here!"

"Great! I'll wait for you there!" He smiled at her, giving her a wave as he went back to train. "Later Cordie!"

"Okay! Bye Chrom!" Cordelia waved back at him, hissing through her teeth as she put a hand on her head. Great, she just agreed to being stuck inside a carriage with him for an entire ride to another country.

" _Damn it, Cordelia."_

* * *

Chrom continued to train with his little sister as the rest of the Shepherds packed themselves to go, when he caught Emmeryn running towards them. Now that they were home and their business was taken care of for the moment, she was probably here to do what she'd been planning for the last few weeks.

"Liz!" Emm picked up Liz and gave her a big hug. "Happy birthday, little sister!"

"Aww, thanks!" Liz said, laughing as Emm pinched her cheek.

"Here, I have a present for you!" Emm pulled out a tall, thin box wrapped with a yellow bow, handing it to her. Liz opened the box, pulling out a white, wooden staff tipped with the Mark of Naga on top.

"Woah, nice!" Liz said in awe as she stared at her present.

"It's a Rescue staff, I made it just for you!" Emm said, pinching her sister's cheek again.

"Ooh, what does this one do?" Liz said. She gave it a swing with one hand, mimicking the casting of a spell.

"The Rescue spell allows you to pull anyone from a distance," Emm said. "Try it out!"

"Okay!" Liz put a finger on her cheek to think. "But who to rescue…"

To be honest, he wasn't really paying attention to whatever they were talking about. That was when he spotted his new magical friend, reading a magic book in the grass.

"Hey Reflet! Can I come over there?" he shouted.

"Sure!" Reflet shouted back, waving for him to come.

"'Kay!" He started walking towards her, but for some reason it seemed as if it was taking forever for him to reach her. No matter how far he walked, he felt like he never made any real distance.

Reflet's face started to twist as she began to giggle, turning into a full laugh. "Ahahahah!"

"What's so funny? Can't you see something strange is going on?" Chrom asked.

"Yeahaha, I can!" Reflet said as she fell to her knees, snickering madly.

"Then help me out!" he said as he sped up. But Reflet just didn't seem to hear him, and her laughter was growing more delirious by the second. She ended up falling backwards, lying on the floor like a madwoman.

"Hey come on!" Chrom said, breaking into a full run, but even that wasn't enough to reach her. "What the hell?!" Chrom broke into a sprint with all his might, exhausting himself yet finally managing to reach her. Chrom held on to his knees. What the hell was she laugh—

He was right back where he started.

What, in Naga's name, is happening on this Naga forsaken continent known as Archanea.

He heard snorting and snickering from behind him. The snorting grew louder and louder, turning into loud, maniacal laughter.

His sisters were fucking with him, weren't they?

He wanted to tell them to fuck off, but they were his sisters, so he couldn't do that. Unless it was just Liz, then he'd tell her to fuck off into a hole.

"Screw off," he told the both of them. He turned around to see his older sister clutching her stomach while reeling in laughter, while the younger one was dying on the floor much like Reflet.

His sisters were bastards. Bastards, both of them. Once they got the last laugh out of their systems, they gave him a hug. It was a nice hug, but it didn't change the fact they deserved to go to hell.

"Alright, no more abusing your powers, Liz," Emmeryn snickered, patting her on the head.

"Never," Liz snorted.

He hated them. He hated them so much that nothing they could ever do could make him forgive—

"Anywayyys, I have a present for you too, Chrom!" Emmeryn said as she clapped her hands together, smiling at him as she tilted her head.

_Oh gods yes, that changes everything, sweet._

"Sweet, what is it?" he said.

"Okay, hold out your hands and close your eyes," Emmeryn said. He did as instructed as she put something within both his hands. It was long, and a little heavy, yet not so heavy that it was difficult to hold. Was it made of leather? What was it? Chrom was very curious and excited to know, he really did like Emmeryn's surprise gifts.

"Okay! You can open your eyes now!" He could hear Emmeryn making tiny claps. Whatever she gave him must've been super exciting for her to—

Oh.

Oh no.

She did not just get him the thing he wanted the most on his Tikimas wish list.

She didn't. She did not.

No way.

It had the gold pommel just like he asked. And it had the red-leather strapped copper hand grip, just like he wanted, too. It even had the golden, shiny and super amazingly cool golden guard. And all of it was wrapped in a fresh, new, red-leather sheath with a blue gift bow on top. Chrom's face beamed as he stared at the sheathed sword in his hands. Was it really the thing he'd been asking for since he was a kid?

"Open it-open it!" Emmeryn goaded him. Lissa soon joined in, followed by Reflet and then even Vaike as they chanted for him to open it.

"Open it! Open it! Open it!"

And so he did. He opened it slowly so he could admire each and every part of it as he unsheathed it. It had the hole in the middle where the blade branches out and reconnects at the guard. And it had the shiny white fang that acted as the blade! It had the long, yellow fueller-thingy to wipe blood off of it, and the sharp central ridge in the middle! And it even had the shiny pointy tip! Naga yes, even the shiny pointy tip!

He spun around with the blade in glee as he thrusted it into the air. "Doo-doo-doo-doo!" He said, chiming his favorite jingle.

"Wait, you can levitate things?" Liz said as she furled her eyebrows.

"Huh?" Chrom looked up, noticing that the blade was actually levitating above his palm. How did he do that? Maybe that was something he inherited from mom. Mom was a mage, after all.

But, more importantly, _the Queensfang was in his hands._

"You're giving me the Queensfang?!" he screamed like an excited child. "But it's not even Tikimas, Or my Birthday!"

Emmeryn laughed. "Well I think you deserve an early Tikimas present! You have been a big help to the kingdom and to myself, so I think you deserve it earlier than intended! The blade once wielded by Marth, our ancestor, now belongs in your hands my dear brother."

The sword plopped back into his hand, allowing him to grip it in his hands once again. He giggled wildly as he swung the blade into the air. Finally, he had the right to wield the Queensfang! He checked out the blade once more as a wild smile started forming on his face. He just came up with a really good idea.

"…I need to swing this thing!" He started running towards the training dummy in the corner, intending to make it his first challenger. Suddenly, Reflet started chasing after him, stretching her right hand out towards him.

"No! Not Mr. Dum-Dum!" she squeaked.

What was she trying to tell him? In anycase, that didn't matter, he had already reached his target. Ready to try out his new blade, he leaped into the air, doing his signature technique. "Aether!" As soon as he said the word, the blade caught on _fire._

"It can do that? That's _so_ goddamn cool!" he shouted. It was time for him to bring justice to his mortal enemy of straw. The blade cleaved straight through the general, cutting his life and body in twain. The flames of the blade made contact with the hay lifeblood of the dummy, setting it ablaze as it turned into nothing but ash, burning straw, and dust.

"YESSS!" Chrom shouted, having vanquished his foe.

"Noooo, why?"

Did he hear a small mammal squeaking? It sounded like a small mammal.

"Chrom! It's time to head out!" Frederick shouted from the front of the yard. The carriages were drawn and ready to go.

He gave a massive hug to his siblings. "Thank you so much! You two are the best sisters ever!"

"Of course, Chrom, you're the best brother ever," Emmeryn said.

"Yeah!" Liz added. The two of them returned his hug. And with that, his elder sister waved them off as they began their journey to the kingdoms in the north.

"Rest in pieces, Mr. Dum-Dum. You were a good man," a small mammal whispered. She shed a tear for her fallen friend, before getting into the carriage with the others.

* * *

_March 7._

Two carriages and a wagon were being drawn by collared horses, carrying the Shepherds on the road from Iris to Felia, the east capital of Ferox. A chill crept into the air as they passed by village after village, ever so closer to reaching the eastern capital of the northern country. It had already been a day and a half that they'd been travelling, and now they finally were reaching the border of the nation of Ferox.

Ferox was a much colder nation than Ylisse. As they travelled deeper into neighboring territory, the green plains of their home were replaced by white, snow-covered forests and fields that often only ever melted between the late-spring and early-fall months. The road they traversed was heavily forested. Tall spruce trees lined the edges of the stone path that they rode along, with several icy or frozen ponds littered here and there. To the Feroxi, a Ylissean spring was the equivalent of a Feroxi summer, and their own spring was a Ylissean winter. A Feroxi winter was… Well, Cordelia was rather thankful that they didn't have to worry about that every year.

"Hey, Freddy, what's the distance until we reach Felia?" she asked him, peeking her head out of the carriage window.

"We should be nearing the Longfort in a few more hours, Cordelia," he answered from his position as the coachman for their carriage. "It'll be nighttime when we get there. After that, we'll be able to reach the capital in half a day." Freddy covered his head with his hood, brushing off the cold as he continued to drive the cart. His stern face never seemed to waver in times like this, no matter how hot or cold the night got. He was sort of like Phila in that regard, though perhaps a little less strict when it came to doing their jobs, if only because of just how strict Phila actually was.

And so, they continued to travel down the road when Cordelia saw a flake of white snow drop onto the vice-captain's brown hair, telling her to look upwards. Dark, grey clouds had begun to form in the afternoon sky. It looked like it would be snowing in a few more moments. Cordelia closed the window and shifted further to the left in her seat, getting away from the window before the cold could really hit her. She stretched her legs out on the couch, not that it would've bothered anyone. There were two large couch seats in the carriage, and she was the only one sitting in the front. The others insisted they'd huddle up together so that they could talk the entire ride. More space for her, she guessed.

"Brrr! F-F-Fredderick! I'm f-f-freezing cold!" Liz said as she started to shiver, feeling the cold wind on her face. She grabbed the arms of Chrom and a shirtless Vaike, trying to steal their warmth.

"You should've got yourself a cloak from the bag. It's at your feet, after all," Frederick said. "While you're at it, get a cloak for everyone else. Let's not freeze to death."

Lissa opened the bag and took out a yellow fur coat, scampering into it in her desperate search for warmth. "T-this'll do! Want one, Cordie?"

"One of the white ones, please," she answered.

"Chrom?" Liz said.

"Blue!" he replied. Liz handed them their coats, pulling out a black one for the shirtless man.

"Vaike, put on a cloak. You're gonna freeze to death," Liz said.

"Hah, Me?" Vaike scoffed. "I'm half-Feroxi on my mom's side! There's no way the cold is gonna stop these rock-hard abs!" Vaike flexed his muscles as he posed in his seat, insisting that no shirt nor cloak was worthy of his grace.

Lissa snorted and chuckled at Vaike's ridiculousness. "Gross. Don't blame me if walking shirtless in the snow bites you in the ass. At least wear it as a scarf or something?"

"Since you insist, then I will gladly take this cloak as a gift from my friend." Vaike took the coat and wrapped it around his neck, turning it into a makeshift cape.

Liz pulled out another white coat, looking around the carriage with a confused look on her face. "Hey, where's Reflet?"

"Over here," Chrom said as he nudged his sister. He raised his right hand, pointing downwards at the magical girl hiding to the right of him. Reflet was so tiny compared to the rest of them that she took up barely any space in the carriage. She dozed off while hugging her knees, making tiny snores as she rested her head on Chrom's neck.

Cordelia sighed, turning away from them yet glancing back at Reflet. She wished she was Reflet right now. She wasn't that taller than her, and she barely took up any space in the carriage too. She wanted to nuzzle up on her prince's neck. It'd probably feel amazing, too.

It's not like that was ever going to happen though. She was nineteen now, and she still never got him to like her like that. It just wasn't in the cards anymore. Besides, in less than a few days of meeting, Reflet and her prince had already seemed to be hitting it off swimmingly. Maybe he was into her instead. Or Sumia, what with all the hugging they do all the time. Yeah, that must have been it. It'd be better to quietly cheer the two of them on than to try to get in the way.

And so she sighed in resignation, giving up on her dream for another day. She just wanted to be the knight to his prince, just like Princess Caeda to her Prince Marth. But she was no Princess Caeda yet. She had a long way to go before she was going to be anything like the wife of the Hero-King. Not enough training. Not enough skill. Not enough confidence to have a normal conversation with her prince.

At least she could just watch him from over here. It's better this way. If he never noticed her feelings for him, she'd be happier.

"So what's Regna-Ferox like?" Liz asked.

Chrom spoke up, "I've been there once with Frederick, Emmeryn had asked us to-"

"Ooh, I know!" she said, perking up as she was pulled out of her inner thoughts. "Regna-Ferox is our country to the north. It is a warrior kingdom which values strength above all. To survive the cold, many of the people who live there make their living as fighters and hunters, hunting down the animals and beasts that live in the great wilderness around the northern and eastern parts of the country."

"Right, yeah Cordie," Chrom said. _Oh crap, she cut him off didn't he? Smooth move, Cordie. He probably thinks you're a huge jerk now. Just finish the explanation already._

"Oh, yeah, heheh, sure prince…" she said awkwardly. "The country originally used to be two kingdoms, the west kingdom, Regna, and the east kingdom, Ferox. Together they formed Regna-Ferox, though nowadays everyone just shortens it to simply Ferox."

"Great job, Cordie!" Chrom smiled at her, getting out of his seat as he brought his hand towards her. Oh gods what was he trying to do?

"Come on!" Chrom said as he gave her a confused look. "Cordie what's up?"   
  
"Uh, sorry," she said, blinking at him as her cheeks grew warm.

He waved his hand left and right. "Am I gonna get a high-five or what?"  
  
"Oh, Oh! You wanted a high-five!" She raised her hand, giving him a pitiful excuse for a high-five as she slapped only a half of his palm.   
  
"Haha, yes, high-five!" she said, chiding herself internally for being a dumbass.  
  
"Are you okay?" he said, his smile fading into a frown. "Do you need something to drink? I could get you some water, you know."  
  
Cordelia forced out a laugh, trying to bury her anxiousness underneath it. "No thanks! I'm fine!"

"Well, okay, but if you need anything—"

"Hey! Stop the carriage!" Sumia shouted from the outside. "The pegasus got loose!"

"A pegasus?" Chrom said. He jumped out of the carriage before Frederick could even break, racing out into the snow.

"Wait, a pegasus? That's my horse!" she said, following after Chrom into the gray outside. It didn't take long to find her horse, who was sprinting around on the road behind them, neighing and whinnying loudly.

"Catria, what's gotten into you dear?" Cordelia said to her horse as she caught up with Chrom. She tugged on her hood, trying to keep her face warm as more snow started to fall down.

"I'm going to try to calm her down." Chrom raised his hand up, slowly moving towards Catria.

"Wait, don't!" she shouted right before Catria delivered a kick to his stomach, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Oh my gods! Chrom, are you okay?" She quickly sidestepped to where Chrom was going to land, catching him before he could hit his head on the ground. She caught him by the arms, pulling him towards herself on instinct.

"Ghhh… I'll be fine." Chrom looked like the wind was kicked out of him. He rested his head on her stomach, struggling to get his bearings.

 _Oh gods, he was using her stomach like a pillow._ "I'm so sorry about that!" she said, lifting his head up.

"Sorry about what?" he said, rolling his neck forwards before he dropped it backwards, hitting her stomach once more as he slumped further down her stomach. "You saved me right there, right? Thank you," he said, still exhausted and out of breath. "Can I just rest for a moment? Please Cordie?"

Chrom adjusted his neck, looking up at her in a way that made her face start to burn as if she was hit with a hot wave of fire. "Uh-uh, sure," she said, not really thinking as she stared into the eyes of the very handsome prince. Even though he wasn't in the best condition, a smile found itself on her face as she watched her prince resting on her chest.

"Let me try!" Cordelia heard Sumia's voice say. Behind her was Sumia, her hand raised and ready to help.

"Sumia? Stand back, don't get yourself hurt!" Cordelia said.

"It's okay, you two. I can handle this…" Sumia calmly walked towards the horse, placing a gentle hand on Catria's head. Unlike before, Catria actually seemed to listen to her, letting her pet her softly as Sumia softly whispered more reassuring words in her ear. "There-there, sweetie. Everything will be alright…" Within moments, Sumia managed to calm Catria down entirely. It was as if whatever got her so frenzied suddenly became a nonissue.

"You calmed her down better than I could, and that's my own horse…" Was her best friend really that talented? She didn't think she'd ever seen Sumia with a pegasus before, when did she learn to do that?

"Yeah, well, I may not have taken care of pegasi before, but my dad and I used to be ranchers before we moved to Iris and he became a servant. Horses and me just go hand in hand, really." Sumia got on her knees as she touched her horse's front left hoofs. "This foot is injured, no wonder the poor gal is in a tizzy…" She looked back at the two of them. "Listen, you all go up ahead, we're almost at the Longfort. I'll dress up her wounds and bring her back as soon as I get the chance, got it?"

"Are you sure? We could wait for you instead," Chrom said with a groan in his voice.

"Thank you, Captain, but you know that a war is looming over us. With these bandit raids and that letter you got, we can't afford to waste a single second. I can manage this on my own." Sumia smiled at the two of them before she turned around, petting Catria's head once more as she got to work. "Later Cordie, later Chrom."

"Right, watch yourself, Sumia," she told her best friend. At least if both Sumia and Catria were together, then they could look after one another and keep the other safe.

All that was left now was getting Chrom back to safety. "I got you Chrom. Come on, let's get back to the carriage."

"Thanks…" Chrom said, still exhausted from the blow. Cordelia held him gently, trying her best to keep him steady as she brought him back into the carriage. Admittedly, she was still nervous and fretting internally over how much he was touching her. A part of her told her to scream, while the other part felt light as a feather in the wind. But regardless of her feelings for him, right now she needed to pull through for him, just like a true knight would. That was the least she could do. To Cordelia, ensuring that her prince was safe was all that mattered to her, and she would do everything she could to achieve that.

* * *

Thanks to Cordie's help, he managed to get over to Liz without much of an issue. They let him lie down on the couch in the front so that he could rest and heal up, and by midnight he was up and running again.

Catria really packed a wallop, though. Even thinking about it was enough to make him wince. It was no surprise, given she was named after the middle sister of the original Whitewings. He was very blessed to have Cordie there to catch him, but he needed to be more careful with horses in the future.

The carriage suddenly slowed to a stop, as Freddy began to shout from the coach seat. "We've reached the Longfort, everyone," he said, getting out of the driver's seat.

"Can someone wake up our magical girl, please?" he said as he got out of the carriage. He pointed to the girl hugging her knees, who this time around fell asleep on Cordie's neck.

Vaike shook the girl gently, trying to rouse her from her slumber. "Hey, Reflet, we're here. Come on, sis."

"Huh…? Is Mr. Dum-Dum… can we save him? Is he gonna bleed out?" Reflet said, talking in her sleep.

Lissa softly patted the girl on both cheeks. "No, you silly lady, we're here."

Reflet yawned as she stretched her arms. "Hmm? What? Oh, we're here…" She rubbed her eyes as she got out of the carriage, only to carelessly _fall_ out of the carriage as she exited, as she forgot to actually open her eyes.

"Whaa!" she said as she fell out the door. She quickly hit the floor, burying her face in snow. "Oww…"

Lissa healed her with her staff as Cordie and Vaike picked her off the ground, leaving behind a Reflet-shaped imprint. For someone so small, she could be a handful to deal with.

"Thank you everyone," she said as she got back on her feet, brushing the snow out of her hair. "We've arrived, right?"

"Not quite yet. Welcome to the Longfort, Reflet," Chrom said as he waved a hand at the fort in front of them. The whole place was nearly pitch-black, owing to the snowy weather and the fact it was midnight. It didn't look like many guards were around right now, or at least, not any he could see. The only things keeping the place from being completely pitch-black were the torches placed here and there, giving a minimal amount of light in sparse areas.

"Wow… This really is a long fort," Reflet said in awe. And she was right, while he couldn't see most of the details of the fort, he could see that its outline stretched as far as his eyes could see horizontally. Cold, grey stones stacked one atop of another built this fortress many years ago. Even in the dimly-lit night, he could see that they were weathered by now, but the foundation was solid enough that it'd be difficult for any damage to have a significant, lasting effect on the hold.

"That's how it gets its name," Cordie explained, "Also known as the Great Stonewall, it stretches all the way from the east side of the continent to the west, ensuring no intruder could get inside or outside the country without a fight."

"What was it built for?" Reflet asked.

"Originally, it was built by Ferox to keep out invaders from Ylisse and Plegia out, approximately 130 years ago, give or take," she continued. "From what I heard, there used to be dozens guarding the fort. That was primarily because the fort also served as a shelter for when the Feroxi built their cities. As the cities were completed and wars involving Ferox had all ended, the Feroxi moved away from the fort for better lands. Nowadays, apparently only around twenty or so people man entire sections of the fort daily, mainly to serve as border patrol."

Just as Cordie finished her pretty interesting history lesson, Chrom heard the clanking of armor above him.

"Halt. Who are you? Speak now," they said. Their voice was sharp and commanding. He couldn't tell what they looked like, however, as the dark night concealed their face.

"I am Chrom Lowell, Prince of Ylisse!" he shouted, raising his hand above his eyes to shield them from the snow. "I seek an audience with the Kahns!"

"Request denied!" they said. "Don't you dare step any closer!"

"What?" he said, confused. "Why not?"

"You think you're the first 'Chrom Lowell, Prince of Ylisse' to try to cross the border?" The guard said, letting out a condescending scoff.

"Uh, there are people impersonating me?" This was surprising news to him. Why were they impersonating him of all people?

"Brigands, all of them! Have you realized that impersonating royalty is capital offense? Perhaps we should settle this the Feroxi way. You claim to be the true prince? Then prove it! There is no way you're getting through this fort, not without battling me first!"

"Dang." Chrom took a step away from the firelit fort to discuss the situation with his friends. "Looks like there's no getting through this fort peacefully, everyone." he said.

"What should we do?" Frederick asked.

"They're Feroxi right?" Cordie said, raising a finger. "If they won't listen to our words, perhaps fighting will get them to listen instead. The Feroxi value strength above all else, after all. For the Feroxi, actions don't just speak louder than words, they are the Feroxi's words."

"I hate to say it, but that may be our only option," Chrom said. "Tell everyone in the other carriage to prepare for battle, and tell our supply wagon to stay out of range of the fight. This is going to go south, quick." He waited a minute to ensure the others had enough time to get out of the carriage and ready themselves. Once he saw that everyone was out and about and equipped, he made his way back towards the gate.

"Very well! We accept your challenge!" he said.

"Then you accept a fool's death! Lancers!" the guard shouted. Without a moment to spare, four javelins rained down on Chrom, the speed at which they came at him taking him off guard. He only had barely enough time to shield his face and chest with his elbow, hoping desperately that he could protect his vitals.

Suddenly, however, a sharp jolt shot across his body as he felt himself rising upwards into the air, completely dodging all four javelins all at once.

"Huh?" Chrom said. What just happened to him? He craned his neck downwards, letting out a shocked scream as he found himself high above the air. "Why am I levitating? Is this my power again!?"

"Up here, Captain!" someone shouted. Chrom craned his neck upwards, making out the outline of a woman he recognized instantly, more specifically her fluffy-looking brown hair, the winged headband she wore, and her incredible height. She had been holding onto him the entire time, and was the one keeping him aloft, not himself, thankfully.

"Did you miss me?" Sumia pulled him up without much struggle, setting him stable on the back of Catria. Sumia must have taken him by the arm at the last second before the javelins rained on him.

"Better hold on tight, Captain. Could get bumpy," she said.

"Uhh… right," he said, steadying himself right behind Sumia. Admittedly, he was a little overwhelmed at how quickly everything transpired, but he was also extremely thankful of her for saving him.

Sumia looked back and smiled at him. "You'll be fine. Let's get to safety!" Sumia said, pulling them out of range of their attackers as they readied themselves for battle.

* * *

Cordelia's mind raced as she tried to figure out what happened with Chrom. Freddy nudged her shoulder, pointing upwards to the black sky. It was hard to see with all the snowfall, but she could make out the shape of a pegasus above. Sumia must have saved him. That must've been some tricky flying on her end to pull him out of there so quickly. Cordelia sighed in relief, now that she knew that her best friend, Chrom and her pegasus were safe.

"What's the plan?" she asked Freddy, focusing on the battle first and foremost.

"It's too dark, so we don't know how many there are," he said. "They haven't yet made a move, but who knows how long we have until that changes. We need to have some form of strategy."

"I've got it!" Vaike said. That took her by surprise. Out of everyone to come up with a plan, Vaike was the one to do it?

"What is it?" Freddy said.

"Let's all just pool into one side and charge right in. Let's just wing it!" Vaike said, hitting his fist down on his other palm. Sometimes Cordelia wasn't sure whether her friend was a genius or just lazy and didn't want to think.

"Well that does qualify as _some_ form of strategy, even if it was a very basic one," she said. "But there is value to the idea currently. With how dark it is, it's too dangerous to afford getting separated from Liz. If we group up, we could easily overwhelm individual opponents as well as protect one another. Perhaps charging in might be the best solution after all."

Freddy nodded in agreement. "Very well, follow my orders, everyone!" he shouted as they all rushed into the fort at once, ready to take on the Feroxi guards. Settling on their excuse for a plan, all of them charged towards the base of the leftern fortress staircase, where they came into contact with the first group of soldiers. This section of the fort was well lit enough for her to see that there were about 12 guards in all, ten fighters and two archers. Between the five fighters with weapons they had, they managed to make quick work of four of the Longfort guards. She stuck close by Vaike, attacking whichever enemies he charged at and pushing him out of the way of any attacks he didn't see coming. Freddy took out two swordsmen all on his own, abusing the reach advantage his lance gave him to take them out without getting hit even once. One of the armored knights even turned on the Feroxians, protecting Lissa from arrows before slashing one of the archers in the knee.

 _Wait, that was Kellam._ When did he get here? Did she just not notice him? She could've sworn he wasn't in the carriages the entire ride here. Cordelia was extremely confused, blinking several times at his sudden appearance, but put her confusion aside to continue the fight.

"Woooohooo!" Vaike shouted as he threw one of the archers into a wall. At the very least, things seemed to be going off without a hitch, for the most part. They continued to fight, slowly breaking through their ranks as they climbed up the large staircase to reach their commander.

* * *

He knew that pegasi were almost as common as regular horses in Ylisse, but that didn't mean he ever wanted to ride one in his life. There was nothing wrong with pegasi themselves, they were nice, sweet-natured horses, even sweeter than their land counterparts.

 _They just have a tendency to fly, really, really_ _high up into the air._

"Hey, is this your first time flying? You seem anxious Chrom," Sumia said. Unlike him, Sumia wasn't shaking in her knees and struggling to keep herself together.

"Yea, flying is a first for me," he said, trying to make himself seem like he was put together.

"There's a first time for everything. Trust me, I was just as scared as you the first time I rode a horse."

"Hey, I'm not scared. I'm just anxious over the fact we're in a battle right now." He crossed his arms, turning away from her in hopes to deflect her words.

"Alright, if you say so, captain." He couldn't help but feel she was smirking at him, not that he could tell since he was staring at the back of her head. Chrom looked down at the ground, _and dear Naga, were they high._ He could see everyone below, Freddy, Liz, Cordie, all of them. He could even see where all the enemies were positioned, including the commander shouting out orders to charge into the other Shepherds. Catria flapped her wings up and down as she rose higher into the air, scaring him even more out of his wits. His breathing started to shake, he really wasn't liking it up here. He hugged tighter onto Sumia's waist, thinking it would keep himself safe.

"Captain, I thought you said you weren't scared?" Sumia said in a teasing way.

"I-I'm not!" he argued.

Sumia laughed, "Well, if you aren't, then I'll have to assume that the reason you're hugging so tightly is that you have a crush on me. To be honest, both options are fine."

"I didn't catch that last part, what did you say?" he said.

"Hmm? I didn't say anything," Sumia said, claiming innocence.

"I'm pretty sure you said both options were fine."

"Nope, you must be lying, never said a thing."

He raised an eyebrow, not that she could see him do so. "Were you always this teasing?"

"Am I now?" She was definitely smirking and he didn't need to see it to know it.

"I always pictured you as someone who was really shy. Like how you got when you accidentally tripped when we were at Iris."

"Well, when I'm doing something like battling or riding a horse, I find that all my anxiety washes away. I don't have to worry about tripping on my own heels and falling on my face. Out here, high in the sky where I can see everything below me, I'm not making a fool out of myself." Sumia was being quite earnest with him. She turned her neck around, letting him see the bittersweet smile on her face.

"I get that feeling a lot, actually," he said, nodding at her. "I feel the same way when it comes to me and my princely duties. But you're not a fool, you know, you're my friend."

"Thanks, you're my friend too." The bitterness in her smile left as she focused back on the flight ahead. "As I was saying, if there was one thing I know I'm great at, it's how to raise and ride horses. Spending six years as your dad's right hand on a ranch in Dawnbreak will do that to you."

"Do you ever wanna go back to Dawnbreak again?" he asked her.

"Maybe later, when this is all over," she agreed. "Wanna come with?"

He nodded. "Let's make it a plan. But right now, we got a fight to get back to."

"Right, where do you want to drop down?"

He glanced down at the Longfort once again, and thanks to the fact that they were several terrifying feet up in the air, he was able to get a good view of the entire battle. The rest of the Shepherds were already clashing with most of the Longfort guards. They were making some advancements, with several Feroxi soldiers retreating to lick their wounds. Miriel even cast a large fire that he knew Freddy would be proud of. Unfortunately, two armored knights had gathered at the top of the stairs, holding it down as a chokepoint while two archers behind them kept shooting arrows down the steps so that no one could climb further and challenge them. To make things worse, the enemies on the right side of the fortress had split into two halves, and the one half reinforcing the main group, and sneaking around behind for a pincer attack.

So that meant that his friends wouldn't be able to clear those enemies out for a while, crap. At the very least, he could bet that between all of them they could probably beat the guards without any major setbacks. Especially if Frederick was with them. He once saw him take out twenty men in a row during a tournament in Iris last year. Freddy was like some kind of super human, especially when he was fully armored on horseback. Unfortunately, he took neither his horse nor his armor with him on the trip, so they would have to make do without.

He needed to stop for a moment to think about his plan of attack. Should he just drop down and join the others? No, that'd be too risky, he'd be trapped turtling with the rest of them. He left his rapier in the supply wagon too, and so it wasn't like he could use it on the knights either. And even if he did have it, he couldn't risk killing the knights. Especially considering they didn't want to upset the Khans, after all. Plus, he risked endangering Sumia by putting her into the range of the archers.

Chrom took a mental step back as he scrapped that idea, searching for another one. What if he took out the commander directly instead? Most of the Feroxi guards were preoccupied with the other Shepherds, so they probably wouldn't notice one person slip by to take on their commander directly. And if he knocked the commander down, then most likely the rest of the fighters would surrender or scatter on the spot. It'd be the quickest and probably the easiest way to end the battle, because either way, he'd have to face off against the commander in the end.

He nodded to himself, going to go through with that plan. Thankfully, the only ones he had to worry about were the four lancers who threw those javelins at him. They were still scrambling around the edge of the top wall, searching for where he had disappeared to. If he could deal with them, it'd be only a few seconds before he'd reach their commander and confront them directly.

"Sumia, can you drop me down to the area above the gate?" he said.

"You sure? But the lancers are still there,"she said.

"Trust me, I have a plan!"

"Alright then." She turned around and smirked at him, "Good luck, captain." Sumia dropped him down on top of the lancers. In an instant, he punched the lights out of the four of them, using the darkness and his sudden introduction to catch them off guard.

That was easy, he didn't even get the chance to use the Queensfang. He turned around, going straight towards the commander so that they could just-

 _Pshew._ An arrow flew right by him, barely missing his neck from behind. "Woah!" He turned around to see that an archer appeared from where he dropped down. How the hell did he get behind him? He backpedaled as the archer shot two more arrows at him, catching the first one with Queensfang and dodging the other. But there were only so many arrows he could dodge before one of them would finally hit him. He needed to think of a way to retaliate.

Before he could think of one, however, a loud noise started coming from inside the building they were on top of. A hatch in the floor he didn't notice before suddenly swung open, likely the one the archer used to attack him. A figure jumped out from underneath the floor hatch, their face obscured by the darkness. They immediately set their sights on the archer, rushing at them before the archer could take notice.

"Eat this!" The shadow jumped at the archer, delivering a right-hook across the face and busting his cheek. They then threw two more hooks at the archer, knocking him out cold with a headbutt. Chrom was taken by surprise at how quickly the archer was beaten, before the shadow started to approach him, lowering the sword in their hand.

"Sir Chrom, there ya are!"

Wait, was that…?

"Err, that is you, right? It's so dark right now, Ma will really gimme an earful if it wasn't you!" the shadow said again in that familiar way of talking he had once heard before. "Oh heck, Chrom didn't have a bow on him, did he?"

"Donny?" Chrom asked, bewildered.

"Dang right, it _is_ you!" Donny walked closer to him, letting him see his face and his wild purple hair once again. He was wearing the armor set his mother gave him, looking much more knight-like than he had when they first met. "Shoot, I saw you drop down here so I came to help! Did the archer hit ya?"

"I'm fine," he said. "But Donny, how did you even get up here?"

"I saw that archer enter some kind of door downstairs, so I snuck in right after he went inside," he said as he scratched the scar on his left cheek. "Anyways, now's not the time to talk about me. Let's wrap this up quickly so we can get on to the capital!" The moment Donny finished talking, Chrom heard the familiar clanking of armored footsteps beginning to approach them.

"So this is the false prince, hmm?" The knight from before said as they showed themselves. "What a disappointment. You may know me as Raimi, commander of the border of Ferox!" With how dark it was, it was impossible to see their face. But at least he could make out their outline. Heavy, thick, dark plate armor covered their entire chest, shoulders and legs, But what was more interesting about them was that they were a _giant,_ about an entire head taller than himself, maybe even more.

They raised their great-sword with both their hands, charging straight at the two of them as they crashed their sword down at them. Both Donny and himself had to dodge in opposite directions just as the floor below them cracked violently and broke, creating a gaping hole where the greatsword struck. Even though that swing left the knight wide open, their massive reach advantage meant that neither of them could land a successful counter in time.

"Yikes! You're huge!" Donny yelped. He circled behind them, trying to form a pincer attack with Chrom. The knight lifted up their sword and gave it a huge spinning around, forcing Donny to duck underneath to survive. While they shifted their attention to Donny, Chrom swung his new favorite weapon at the knight's back, only for the blade to slide off the knight's armor.

"I don't expect to find much of a challenge from little men like you two!" the knight said as they made another large slash, turning backwards towards Chrom.

"Little?" Chrom said, offended. "I'm like the third tallest on my team!"

"That is just a testament to how little you all are!" the knight remarked as they suddenly dropped their weapon, catching him off guard with a quick flurry of blows, bringing Chrom down to the floor.

"Come on! I thought the prince would have some fire in him!" the knight said as they slowly walked up to him, picking their heavy sword back off the ground.

Fire in him? he thought _,_ stirring on the knight's words when he realized something. He needed to be Frederick for a second.

"Milord! If you value your life, you will use Aether," Chrom said as a stand-in for Freddy as he got back on his feet.

"Right you are, Freddy!" He said as he grabbed his sword with both his hands. "Aether!" On command, his sword burst into red flames just like it had done before, and it was still just as awesome as the first time. The bright flame's light blinded the knight, causing them to drop their own blade. His opponent now stunned, Chrom seized the chance to whack the knight in the stomach with the side of his Queensfang, keeping it there in place and letting the flames burn them. The flames alone were enough to make the knight scream as they stumbled backwards, dropping to their knees in pain.

"You bastard!" they cursed as the knight clutched their stomach. Donny took several steps backwards, before rushing at the knight at full force. He tackled the knight, pinning them to the ground as he recoiled in pain.

"Gahh! My arm!" Donny screamed. The knight struggled to get up, only for Donny to pin them down even harder with all his weight.

"I'll never yield to you filthy curs! Neve-" The knight suddenly stopped fighting back, lying frozen in place as they slowly turned their neck towards Chrom. Slowly, they raised their head towards him, their visor meeting his eyes.

"Forgive me! Your words are true!" the knight apologized, the antagonistic tone in their voice disappearing immediately.

"Oh, so you've finally realized it?" Chrom said as he walked closer to the knight. "That we were telling the truth?" With the warm light his red flame finally revealing his face to the commander, he was certain they wouldn't forget what he looked like from now on. And if they did forget what he looked like, they wouldn't forget the Mark of Naga on his shoulder.

"I am the one and only Chrom Lowell, Prince of Ylisse. May we finally pass?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sushion: Hello! You might've noticed that the Falchion has been renamed to the Queensfang. This is intentional. It's actually a play on when the Falchion was named the Kingsfang in Gaiden.
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading Pale!


	5. A First Meeting

Cordelia heard a loud shout. "Guards! Yield!" On command, the archers that were pinning them down lowered their bows, and the knights stonewalling the stairway moved aside, letting them pass. Were they surrendering? What prompted this?

"Good, let's go," Freddy ordered. Within the brief moment of respite, both Liz and herself took the time to inspect everyone for injuries. But for the most part, it seemed that they were all fine, thankfully. Reflet had healed up from her fall earlier, while the only injury Vaike sustained was to his cape, which got completely torn to shreds. Vaike laughed as he took it off, saying that it was only getting in the way during the fight. The only other major injuries delivered were to their enemies, most of whom were battered, bruised and sore from battle.

They reached the top of the stairs to find Chrom with a red torch in his hand, standing over the enemy commander who was now lying on the floor. Beside him was Donny, clutching his own arm with the other. He must have found his way inside the fort without anyone noticing.

"Cordie! Everyone!" Chrom said as he approached them. "We beat the commander!"

"Great!" she said, playing with a strand of hair on her head. "So, Chrom? How's, uh, how's this thing with the gate? Can we finally get through now?"

"I don't know," Chrom said as he bent down to the fallen commander. "Let's ask Raimi here and see what they have to say about it. Help me out here?"

"Uh, sure." While helping him pick the knight up, she noticed that the torch in Chrom's hand was actually his new sword.

"Why is your sword on fire?" she said, curious at the strange sight.

"You haven't seen it yet?" he said, showing it to her. "It's the Queensfang!"

"Wait, you finally got it?!" she said. "Oh my gods, yes!" Ever since she first met him, he always talked about wanting to wield Marth's blade as his own. He could gush hours upon hours on end about how awesome the Queensfang was. This was big for him! In her happiness she couldn't help herself from hugging him. She was so proud for him over the fact that he finally received the right to wield it after so long.

It was then that she realized she was actually hugging Chrom.

"Awww, thanks, Cordie! I just knew you'd be happy to hear!" Chrom quickly wrapped his arms around her, locking her into a tight hug. Cordelia's brain ceased functioning as she was overwhelmed by the sensation of his lean yet muscular arms running down the middle of her back, as well as the warmth of his nice, strong, very well-built chest that she touched with her hands. Cordelia let out a confused squeal in shock and delight, not knowing what to do.

The knight that Chrom defeated let out a cough. "Ahem, I do believe we have matters to discuss?" They took their helmet off, revealing themselves to be a woman with short, blonde hair and a stern face, though one that lacked hostility towards them.

"Oh, right," Chrom said, still hugging her. Cordelia was like a startled deer, finding herself unable to say or do anything. Her heart was racing, and the only thing in her brain was the fleeting thought of whether her smile looked weird or not, and even that was gone in a flash. All she could do was just stare upwards dumbfoundedly, admiring Chrom's blue eyes in the red glow of his sword's flame.

"Well Raimi, may we finally pass?" Chrom said, turning to the knight commander.

"My apologies," Raimi said. "I had truly taken you for bandits. With how dark it is, I was unable to recognize that you were the true prince. You may indeed pass." With that, she ordered a guard to raise the gate, finally letting them continue their path.

"Good, let's finally get moving," Chrom said, letting out a yawn that was too adorable for Cordelia. "Ready to get back to the carriage, Cordie? I'm getting kind of tired."

"Huh?" She said, snapping back to reality once she heard his voice. She did her best to pull herself away from her prince's captivating eyes. "Oh, right!" she said with a nervous chuckle, stepping away from him. "Let's go downstairs already! I-I don't wanna stand here anymore than I have to, either!" Cordie let out a deep sigh, trying to keep herself under control while they started walking down the steps. Yet her eyes continued to gravitate back to Chrom, watching him as he walked ahead of her.

"To make reparations," Raimi said, "if you would like us to then we shall personally escort your band to the eastern capital so that you may have your audience with the East-Khan."

"That would be very great, actually," Chrom said. "It's rather dark right now, and we could use the rest after that battle."

"Excellent, I'll inform my guards to escort you immediately," Raimi said. It was interesting to see how one fight alone was enough to cause a complete shift in her demeanor towards them. It seemed like fighting really was the way the Feroxi ran things.

Once they reached the base of the steps, Donny spoke up. "Err, any of you got some medical supplies or somethin'? I busted up my arm somethin' fierce tacklin' that commander lady," he said as he lightly touched his shoulder.

"I got you!" Liz raised her Heal staff which began to glow a warm, green light as she brought it to Donny's shoulder. However, after glowing for only a second, it flickered out with a farting noise.

"Crap, did I use up all the charges already?" Frustrated, she shook the stick up and down in an attempt to squeeze out any extra mana out of it.

"Here, I'll cover for it," Cordelia said. She may not have been as dedicated a healer as Liz, but she knew how to cast a few healing spells, and she could thank Phila for that. She went over to the boy and put his bruised arm underneath her own healing light. At the same time, she could feel herself being drained as a result of casting the spell without a charged staff, if only for a moment. But it was nothing to be worried about.

Donny held an enthusiastic look on his face as he wound his arm up in a backwards rotation. "Mighty kind of you, Miss Cordelia. I feel like a new person!"

"Alright, just make sure not to put too much pressure on your arm for a while, okay?" she said.

"Huh?" he said, confused. "Whaddya mean? I thought you healed it already."

"Healing spells aren't perfect," She said. "While it might feel like they heal instantly, that isn't the case. What they do is they close wounds and accelerate the healing process, while also easing or numbing pain. With the right amount of care, you can heal up without even so much as a scar. But if something happens and you get hurt again, you could be in a worse position than before. For example, the wound could reopen before you have the chance to properly heal, or it could heal improperly."

"Wow…" Donny said, scratching his head as he processed what she said. "Well alright then. Still, magic sure is useful, I wish I knew how to cast a fireball or how to heal a person."

"Maybe you should try studying?" she suggested. "I'm sure Liz or Freddy could help you. But if they're too busy and I'm free, then I'd be willing to lend a hand. I just think they'd be better at training you than myself."

"Studying huh? Well alright then." He turned to Liz. "Lady Liz, would you please teach me how to use magic?"

Liz raised her eyebrows as she narrowed her eyes, looking at him very satisfied. "Ooh, Lady Liz. I like how that rings in my ear. Sure, Sit next to me in the carriage and I'll help you study."

"Really? Yeehaw!" Donny cheered, rushing to the side door of the first carriage as he helped himself inside. "You know I've never been in one of these before until we started heading out? They're super fancy!"

"Yeah, it's really fun!" Liz followed him inside, and she would have as well had she not heard Sumia call out for her from up above.

"Cordie!" the brunette said as she flew to the ground on Catria. She got off Catria, moving immediately to give her a hug.

"Woah, Sumia!" she said as she returned the gesture. "Hey Catria." She walked over to her white pegasus, petting her softly on the head. Her horse's leg was now all healed up, so she was really thankful that her best friend took care of her other best friend.

"Thanks for taking care of her for me," Cordelia said, turning around to her.

"Of course," Sumia said with a smile, however, the way she stared at her looked very suspicious. She was staring straight into her eyes very deliberately, and her lips were curled just a little too intently, too suspiciously for Cordelia to not notice.

"What?" Cordelia said as Sumia continued to stare her down.

"I sawww," Sumia teased in a sing-song voice.

"You sawwww what?" she mimicked.

"You were hugging Chrom earlier!"

"No I wasn't!" she deflected. She turned her eyes away from her, blushing as she denied it.

"No, you were! Don't lie!" Sumia pinched her cheeks, playing with them with her thumbs. "And you were hugging him earlier when we were helping Catria, too!" she said as she rubbed her cheeks up and down.

"Okay-okay!" she said as she pulled Sumia's hands away. "I was just happy for him. I wasn't trying to hug him, but you know how he gets. It just happened, okay?" she said, embarrassed.

"It was sweeeet," she sang again. "You should hug him more!"

Cordelia turned her eyes away from her as she smiled shyly. "Oh gods, you know I can't do that." She hugged him on an impulsive whim, it'd be hard for her to be able to do that intentionally.

"Are you sure? Don't you wanna feel his nice, shapely, bulging muscles wrapped around your shoulders again?" Sumia flexed her biceps, pretending to be Chrom as she started hugging the air in a very exaggerated way. "Don't worry baby. I got you," she said in an over-the-top fashion, dipping forward as if she was dancing with a girl.

Cordelia's face burned even hot as she started to stammer, scrambling for something to respond with. "Y-yeah? Well don't you wanna feel that nice ass of his in those tight pants he wears all the time?" she fired without thinking in an attempt to turn the tables on her best friend pushing her buttons.

"Noooo, Cordie!" Sumia whined as she dropped the girl made of air, giving her a flustered and upset look. "You said you wouldn't say that outloud!"

"It's okay, nobody is around to hear us talk about Chrom Tightass Lowell," she said with a revengeful and teasing smirk. If Sumia was going to tease her, then so would she.

Sumia groaned as she hid her face behind her hands. "Ahh, I regret my decisions!" She slowly lowered her hands, looking back at her. "Anyways, I can see you were having fun with him, and that's what's important. I just think you should try to talk to him more."

"Thanks Sumia." Cordelia closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around Sumia.

"...Okay, but I am not the one who came up with Chrom Tightass Lowell," Sumia snickered as she sent Cordelia into a fluster. She pulled her head away for just a moment to take a look at Cordelia's priceless reaction.

"Noooo, stop," Cordelia said as she broke off the hug. "Look, let's just pet Catria, okay? You were really great flying out there, you know?" she said, turning to her horse.

Sumia giggled. "Hehe, you really think so?"

"Yeah, how come you don't have a pegasus yourself?" she asked.

Sumia tilted her eyes upwards. "I don't know, it was just something we never had the time for. My dad already had so many animals to take care of, he said a pegasus would be too difficult for him."

"That does make some sense," Cordelia said. "Horses are already handfuls to take care of, so a flying horse would be no less trouble." Yet her best friend was really talented when it came to flying, she did not want to see her talents go to waste. "Would you like to borrow Catria for a while?"

"Really?" A sparkle formed in Sumia's eyes. "Yes! I'd love to ride her more! But don't you need her?"

"I think I'll be fine if she's in your hands." Cordelia smiled at her. "Plus, if something were to happen, I could just take her back if I needed to."

"Well alright, then yes!" Sumia nodded, hugging her one last time as she got back to her carriage, waving her goodnight.

Cordelia waved back at her as she closed the door. Despite everything, she felt like a really lucky lady today. While they threw her for a whirl, the hugs she got from Chrom were still extremely nice, admittedly. And it seemed like their talk finally went well for the first time in what felt like ages. Cordelia went back inside her carriage, taking a seat next to Freddy who had given the horse's reins to Raimi. She closed her eyes and smiled with glee, remembering the warmth of his head on her chest and her hands on his own. She hoped her dreams would be about him tonight. Even if she never did get with him, those hugs would be more than enough to carry her for now.

* * *

_March 8,_

Chrom held his shiny new sword in his lap in the carriage ride. He finally got to use it in battle, and was still giddy over just having it with him. Emmeryn said he was finally worthy of the Queensfang, and now it belonged to him.

Nearly everyone had slept through the night and awakened in the morning. It must have been ten or eleven when they awoke, judging from the position of the sun. They got out of their carriages, taking their first steps onto the gray stone roads of Felia, the east capital of Regna-Ferox.

"Mmm, I'm kind of sleepy, and hungry," Liz said as she held onto Reflet, helping each other stay upright. The two of them held their eyes shut from not getting enough sleep, thanks to the fact that they were talking late into the night with Donny.

"Well, you better get yourselves awake," he said. "We're finally here."

"I know, you kept asking… ahhh." Liz covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned. "Asking if we were there yet like twenty times." She got down out of the carriage, making sure Reflet didn't fall this time.

"Hmhmm… It's cold, but warmmm." Reflet said as she turned her face to the sun, basking in its rays of light.

He chuckled. "Are you part lizard, Reflet?"

"Maybe, who knows…" she said as she rubbed her eyes open. "I'm awake now, I think." Reflet covered her mouth as she also let out a yawn of a higher pitch. She blinked as she looked around the city and at the palace up ahead of them. "Woah, look at how beautiful this place is."

"I think you're right," he said as he looked around. The sky was a deep shade of blue, and clear as his eyes could see. Felia seemed to be spared from last night's weather. The pavement was dry without a single snowpile to be seen anywhere. Most buildings were made out of primarily wood and stone, giving a warm look to the city. Despite Ferox's reputation for being a warrior country, there were many citizens out and about who looked just like any other citizen from any other city. Still, there was so much more of Ferox to be seen, and much more to be said. Their army was still one of the most well-respected fighting groups there was in Archanea, and a force to be reckoned with.

"Follow me, Prince Chrom," Raimi said to him as she led them into the Gray Palace where the East-Khan lived. The bulk of the structure was made with a greenish-gray granite, including the floor, ceiling and support columns. Dark red carpets with gold trims lined the floors and staircases of the place, giving it what Chrom would describe as a strong sense of atmosphere. The dark grays and strong reds complemented each other well, it really felt like the type of place a warrior-king might want to live in.

"The Khan will now see you shortly," Raimi said as she led them up the staircase, pushing the large doors on the second floor open. The doors led to a large room with a similar theme to the main hall, with a large, wellbuilt wooden dining table in the center. Raimi left through one of the doors in the back of the room, leaving them alone for the time being.

"So, Chrom, what do you think the Khan is like?" Reflet asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know. Give me your best shot. Tell me, what do you think they'd look like?"

"Me? Hmm…" Reflet poked her cheek as she thought of an answer. "They're warriors, right? Then maybe something like Vaike. Big and strong, and really tall, like six feet!" Reflet stood on her toes as she raised her hand up, struggling to reach past his head. "And umm, they'd have a giant and heavy battleaxe! And they've been through several battles in their life, with an eyepatch on their right eye! No wait, left eye!" Reflet started to get really into this. She was pretty excitable, that was for sure.

The door that Raimi had left through opened with a creak as a blonde-haired, dark-skinned woman entered the room. The woman wore a white, sleeveless steel chestplate and a black undershirt underneath, covering her entire chest yet exposing her shoulders. Her outfit was bare minimal, with only black gloves, shorts and black boots covering the rest of her body. She was of average height for a woman, and was resting a long, steel two-handed sword on her shoulders, casually watching Reflet go on about what the khan should've looked like.

"Am I now? Please, do go on, your description matches that oafish man," she said.

"Eep!" Reflet's face went pink. She hid herself with her hood, giving her a hasty bow.

"Heh," the woman said with a smirk. "It's cute to see someone get flustered so easily right after they've just talked about you behind your back."

Reflet squeaked again as she bunched her arms up, shying away from the woman. The woman let out a lighthearted laugh, walking up to Chrom and giving him one of the strongest handshakes he'd ever received.

"My name's Flavia," the woman said. "I heard everything about your situation from Raimi. I apologize for the skirmish last night." She wiped a droplet of sweat off her brow with her thumb, then gestured for all of them to take seats around the table. "So, Prince Chrom, how are you and your band doing after the battle last night?"

Chrom nodded, taking a seat right next to her own. "We're alright, but is it true that there are people impersonating me to get across the border?"

"Indeed, we found a note on one of the bandit leaders stating exactly so." Flavia took out a letter, passing it to him to read.

"Damn it," he cursed, before looking back at Flavia, biting his finger. "Sorry, I should've worded that more politely."

"Politely?" Flavia laughed. "Kid, in Ferox, we appreciate frankness. Politeness can take a goddamn hike here."

"Wait." Chrom looked at her as a small upward curl formed on his lips. "I can swear all I like here? And I don't have to worry about getting in trouble?"

She smiled, looking at everyone else in the room. "Go nuts, kid. I'm liking where this is going to go."

"Okay then." Chrom inhaled as he raised his finger. "Fuck your guards and everything they stand for. I just wanted to get over here without any trouble, but then these guards just had to be like 'no you can't do that you little shit."

His friend group split themselves between shocked reactions and smirks that barely-concealed their laughter. Freddy, Miriel, and Sumia belonged to the former group, while everyone else was in the other camp.

"Damn kid, you tell it like it is!" Flavia said, laughing the hardest out of everyone. "So, let's get to the damn point already. Shall we get some damn food in here?"

"That'd be damn nice if you ask me!" Vaike said.

"Yeah! I want damn food!" Reflet said innocently as she raised her hand up.

"Don't give Reflet ideas!" Liz said as she pulled Reflet's hand down.

"Give me all the damn ideas!" Reflet said, raising both her hands back up.

"I like everyone here already," Flavia said, laughing even more. Several butlers came into the room, placing plenty of plates of delicious-looking food for them to eat.

"So," Flavia said as she cleared her throat. "I know all about how you need us to help you in the upcoming war, but I'm afraid I cannot lend you any aid currently."

"Damn it, Why not?" Chrom said. Flavia words broke any remnants of laughter the Shepherds had. Now all of them sat in silence, waiting for her to continue.

"I cannot lend you any aid currently," she clarified, placing her elbows on the table and forming a pyramid with her hands. "You didn't let me finish," she said with a smirk.

"Oh, well then forgive me," he said.

"It's fine," Flavia said. "As I was saying, I cannot lend you any aid currently, but I do have a way to give us both what we want."

He crossed his arms. "Well what is it?"

Flavia looked at the wine that was poured for her, watching it swirl in the glass in her palm. "Do you know how the Feroxi government works?"

He nodded. "There are two Khans, one that rules the west half of Ferox, and the other the east. Together they rule in unison."

"Precisely," Flavia said as she sipped her drink. "However, it is a little more complicated than that. Every three years, the head throne of Ferox is awarded to one of the two Khans. For those next three years, the other Khan must yield to them for all major decisions that involve both portions of the country, and that includes forging alliances. Currently, the West-Khan, Basilio, is in power."

"So should we wait for him to hear what he has to say?" Chrom said.

"I don't think so, in fact, I have a way we can skip that process entirely." Flavia took another sip of her drink, crossing one arm over the other afterwards. "Do you know how we Feroxi pick our reigning Khan?"

He squinted, trying to think of the right answer, only to come up empty. "…Cordie can you help me?" he whispered to his history teacher. Cordie was about to explain for him, had Flavia not spoken first.

"It's fine, I can explain it," Flavia said. "We pick our kings by beating the shit out of each other."

"Wait, what?" he said, putting a finger on his temple. "You're serious?"

She nodded. "I'm serious. Every three years, we host a tournament called the Earth King's Tournament. In our founding days, two of our strongest warriors from what was to become the kingdoms met in one place, insisting that the ruler of the country should be the strongest person on earth. And so they dueled one another, with the strongest ruling the kingdom, and the runner up managing the capital that the ruler wasn't residing in. Overtime, this turned into the East-Khan and West-Khan selecting champions to represent them, mainly to prevent blood feuds and short lifespans." A smile formed on her lips as she sipped her wine again. "Now we beat the shit out of each other, by proxy."

He nodded, now that made more sense. "So you want us to represent you, then?"

"Precisely," she said. "I am in need of champions for the upcoming tournament. It begins in two days, and I believe your team might be our best chance at winning this year."

"What makes you believe that we are your best chance?" he said.

"You defeated Raimi, yes?" she said. "She was the leader of my champions during the last tournament, but was defeated at the last second by the West Khan's own champion, a man named Lon'qu."

Flavia reached out her hand, offering him a handshake. "So, do we have a deal? If you defeat Basilio's champions and reign supreme, then I will give you all the aid that you need immediately. You'll be doing me a big favor for me, just as I will do for you."

He accepted her handshake, and by extension, the arrangement. "I don't think I could say no to this offer, my people need all the aid they can get as quickly as possible," he said, nodding confidently. "We will act as your champions in the Earth King's Tournament, Flavia."

"Excellent!" she said, leaning back in her chair as she took a big swig from her wine glass. "Let's win this and then we'll kick Gangrel's head in if he ever tries to go to war with us!"

"Yeah, Gangrel can go suck Est's dick!" Vaike cheered, slamming the beer mug he was given down on the table.

"Hah! You there, what's your name?" Flavia said, turning to him.

"I am the one and only Vaike!" Vaike said, hitting his chest twice with his fist. "I'm half-Feroxi!"

"Now that's just the type of guy I like!" Flavia got out of her seat, moving towards him with her arm raised. "Meet me in an hour and we'll hit a bar. I'll drink you under the table!"

"Hah! Your funeral!" Vaike took her arm as they both headbutted one another, raising both their fists in the air as they cheered loudly once more. "We're gonna win this!"

Flavia laughed again, turning back to Chrom. "That's all for now, kid. I'll have my servants prepare bedrooms to accommodate all of you. You are all dismissed until further notice."

* * *

He slashed into the air, cutting it before he made a thrust. He had to keep slashing, to keep thrusting. He needed to keep training. His body started to bring itself down to his knees, but he couldn't afford to stop. He needed to make sure he was strong enough to save the future.

He got back up, striking the air with a wobbly thrust. The grip on his blade began to slip away as his body started giving up on him.

Thud.

Damn it. He couldn't collapse now. He needed to get back up.

* * *

It was nighttime now, and Reflet was sitting on a couch in one of the living rooms of the Gray Palace, reading through the pages of the spellbook Ricken had given her. According to the book, magic was essentially the energy of one's spirit, and to use magic, you needed that energy to cast with. If she were to use too much energy, then she would be left exhausted. And if she burned her energy when she was at her limit, then death would be likely to come for her.

"That explains why I got so tired back then…" she mumbled to herself, referring back to the first day she met Chrom, that day she woke up. Reflet stared at the ceiling, wondering about something that had been picking at her for a while.

"Why exactly was I in the grass in the middle of nowhere?"

If Chrom or Liz weren't there, she wouldn't know what on earth she would've done. Where would she have gone? What would she have eaten? Outside of them and the other Shepherds she made friends with, she didn't know any other person. Thus, she was very thankful to her two friends for what they did and how they've been treating her. They've given her food, clothes, friendship even. They even made her a Shepherd, which meant a lot to her. It meant that she was their friend.

And to think that they were a prince and princess all along. She still couldn't believe that last part. The two people she met were royalty, and when they just so happened to stumble along someone who knew nothing about themselves or the world, they just took them in like that? It was a lot more than she'd ever ask for, really. She felt a sense of gratitude to all four of them, Chrom, Liz, even Freddy and Emmeryn. They've given her a home, even if she's only been outside and inside a carriage for what little life she's known. The more she's spent time with them, all of them, the more she's come to love them as friends. That's why if any of them needed help, she would help them in a heartbeat.

She took out the golden dagger and yellow book from her jacket's pocket, taking close looks at both of them. Why were these the only two things she woke up with? The book was a Thunder tome, which she learned meant she was a mage of some sort. But the dagger, on the other hand, that she didn't know anything about. All she knew was a sense of warmth whenever she held it. It was extremely beautiful, too, and made of a shining, gold-like metal. Even she could tell that it was easily the most valuable thing she owned, even if she only owned three things.

She turned the small knife around, finding that there was an inscription on the bottom of the hilt, though most of the first word was unreadable. "R... Amni, December, 25, 1854."

"R, Amni?" Did the R stand for Reflet? No, she came up with that name when she woke up. So then that R had to have stood for whatever her old name was. But she liked the name Reflet. She couldn't explain why, but it just felt more... right to her.

So then that would make her Reflet Amni. The words had a nice ring to them. She very much liked hearing both her first and last name.

But there must have been something important about that date, though. What did it mean to her? Was it the day she was given the dagger? Maybe she could find out its origins. If she was able to find out where this dagger was from, then maybe she could find out where she was from as well.

Reflet put the dagger and book away in the jacket, setting aside her thoughts as she got back to reading her book. She continued to flick through the spellbook, reading the first words of the next chapter.

"Flash: a basic level light spell," she said as she read off the page. It was a relatively easy spell to cast, and its primary purpose was to disorientate opponents. She continued reading the book up until she heard a loud noise outside. Thud.

What was that noise? She placed her spellbook down on the table in front of her and made her way towards the door leading to one of the outside training grounds. She opened the door, and there she found Marth, collapsed on the ground next to his sword.

"Hey wait!" she shouted in surprise. "It's late! What are you doing?"

Maybe he didn't hear her, but he didn't say anything to her. He got back up on his feet, picking his sword up as he thrusted into the air.

"How long have you been training out there?" she shouted again only for him to not respond again. After one too many thrusts, he collapsed on the ground once more. Struggling, he planted his sword into the ground in an attempt to lift himself back up. He immediately fell back to the ground, however, tired and clearly out of energy. She couldn't let this go on any further, she needed to bring him in, now.

Except there was the issue that she was not wearing any shoes, and the stone floor outside was going to be really cold to step on. But still, she couldn't just leave him there, shoes or no shoes. She set her thoughts aside, rushing over to him with all her speed.

"Crap, it's cold!" she whined as she hopped from one foot to another to avoid the chilly, rushing to where he collapsed. He only seemed to notice her by the time she had already placed her hands on his shoulders, when she started to lift him up.

"Hey…" he objected weakly as she lifted him to her chest. It was a struggle just pulling him backwards into the room. And it wasn't that he was heavy at all, she was just very weak.

"Crap crap crap crap crap!" she said very quickly. "Okay, we're inside now, thank Naga!" She pulled his feet past the door, shutting the door immediately to prevent the cold from seeping in. She used what strength she had to lay him on the couch, using her black hood and the white coat Liz gave her as blankets for him to keep warm.

"Why did you do that…" Marth protested weakly as she laid his head on the couch's pillow. He looked like he was in pretty rough shape. He must have been training out there for hours.

"I don't know, you were outside collapsed on the floor?" she said. "If I saw someone on the ground, I'd go help them. That's what Chrom did for me." She left to find a maid in the kitchen, coming back with a bowl of stew in her hands and setting it down on the table in front of Marth.

"Here, eat this," she said. She set his head upright, spoon feeding him by the mouth. He looked nearly starved. When was the last time he ate? A part of how he looked reminded her of how she felt on her first day waking up.

"I have to get back out there," Marth said, weakly swallowing his meal. His voice sounded just slightly stronger now. "I need to keep training," he said, raising his head up as he tried to get off the couch.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that." She nudged his head down, pushing it back on the pillow.

"Please, I need to—"

She stopped him from speaking by spoon-feeding him again. "Nuh-uh!" she said.

Marth swallowed his stew, trying to get up once again. "I need to go train. Believe me." She refused to let him go, however, pushing his head down once more and keeping her hand there until he stopped fighting back.

"That's not happening," she said, looking at him scoldingly. He was stubborn, that was for sure, but she would have to match his stubbornness. She had to, or else he'd end up hurting himself. "Look, Chrom told me that you got something going on about how a great calamity is about to threaten the world or something, and you need to stop it. But how are you going to save the world if you burn yourself out before you can do so?"

Marth sighed, slumping deeper into the couch without saying anything.

"Why were you training so hard, anyways?" she said as she fed him another spoonful.

"I'd rather not say," he said rather quietly. After that, the two of them said nothing between each other as she continued to feed him. During this time, Reflet got a good look at his mask. It was a dark shade of blue, much like the man's hair and clothes. It was very angular with many indents, giving it a complex design. There were three slits on both sides that acted as holes for Marth's eyes to look through, but also obscured her from seeing them herself.

"So, that mask, what's with the design?" she asked, setting the bowl down.

"It's meant to look like a butterfly," he said. Marth traced a finger around the edges of his mask, pointing out the outline of a blue butterfly's wings.

"It's very pretty," she said smiling at him.

"Thank you, it was a gift," he said. After that, he didn't say anything else, so Reflet decided to speak instead.

"Well," Reflet said. "If you can't tell me why you need to train, then could you at least tell me why you can't tell me anything?"

Marth straightened his back on the couch, turning his head to her. "If I tell anyone of the events that are going to happen, then those events may change so drastically that there could be irreparable damage to the future. That's why I need to do this alone. I cannot afford to have any help."

"You needed help back there, when you were outside," she said, pointing her little finger at him. "Who was gonna pick you up if you fell?"

Marth once again said nothing, so she continued speaking once again.

"If you wanted to work alone, then why did you join us in the first place?" she argued further. "I was there when you said you needed to get to Ferox as quickly as possible. If you didn't join up with us, you wouldn't have been here today, right?"

"I…" He trailed off, not giving her an answer.

Reflet got back on the couch, sitting right beside him. "I'm sorry to say this, but I think it's impossible for you to truly work alone at this point. Chrom, Liz, myself and others already know something's coming in the future. And that something is a great evil, you said so yourself. And Chrom said he wouldn't sit around and do nothing about it, and I think he's right. We all won't sit around for it, we just need to figure out what we can do to stop it."

She placed both her hands on his shoulders, staring into the slits of his mask. "Please, I only want to help you. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"…Do you promise not to tell anyone else?" Marth looked at her, and though his eyes were hidden, Reflet could see he was filled with nervousness and fear.

She brought her left hand towards him, raising her pinky. "Pinky promise."

He looked at her finger. "What?"

"Liz taught me it," she said. "A pinky promise is when you lock your little finger with someone else's. In doing so, you form a promise that you never want to break. So, let's do it, let's make a pinky promise." She hooked her finger around his right hand, waiting for him to make the next move. He opened his mouth silently as he looked at her, slowly locking his finger with hers. His hand was small, yet slightly bigger than her own, and felt warm to the touch. She shook his hand, smiling at him as she spoke again.

"I promise not to tell anyone else about what you're about to tell me," she said, letting go of his finger. "So will you tell me what's wrong, Marth?"

"Okay..." Marth lowered his head, taking a deep breath as he looked back at her. "What if someone told you they have seen the future?"

"Then I'd believe them," she answered.

"You would? Why?" he said, leaning back into the couch.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" She blinked at him, confused. "I don't know much about the way the world works. Maybe there's a spell that exists that could let someone see the future. It could exist, just like lots of other things in the world could exist. My point is that it's better for me to be open-minded over being close-minded. Is that wrong?"

"I just wasn't expecting you to believe me. That's all," Marth said. "I expected that most people would believe it to be crazy, that someone could know what the future was like."

"Hmm… Well, I don't think it's crazy, if my opinion matters at all," she said, shaking her head. "So then what's this great calamity in the future?"

Marth looked down at the ground, then back to her. "Ruin," he answered.

"Is that like a person?" she asked.

"Everything falls to ruin," Marth elaborated.

"Oh… Wait," Reflet said as she made a high-pitched gasp. "Oh no."

"The world will begin its path to destruction in just a few years," Marth continued. "Life will stop existing, entire kingdoms will fall and everything will be reduced to ashes. Do you remember those things that attacked Chrom and Lissa earlier?"

"I wasn't there for that, but I do remember Chrom telling me about them," Reflet said. "Continue."

"Those things, the Risen, will run rampant in the future in droves," he said, his voice sounding serious. "They'll take the lives of everyone they come across, and with each life they take, another joins their ranks. Humans will be outnumbered and overwhelmed until we're nearly eradicated from this world. The ones that manage to still survive the atrocities will band together at the ends of the world, desperate to make their last stand. And they will be led by myself—" He stuttered, fumbling on his words. "I mean, a descendant of Chrom will lead them. And they will become the last bastion of the living world. That descendant will lead a valiant army to face off against the hordes of undead. But it will be a futile effort, and human life will suffer extinction."

After hearing everything Marth said, Reflet took a deep breath, looking back at him. "Wow, that is a lot to take in. Where do we come in? Where does Chrom come in? Chrom has to be there right?"

"The Shepherds will scatter to the winds, dying one after the other over the course of twenty years or more. By the end of it, the only people alive will be the children of most of the Shepherds. As for Chrom—" He stopped, starting to choke on his own words. "Chrom… Chrom is the first one to die..."

Tears started to stream down his cheek as he began to sob loudly. "He… He dies! He dies, he dies and there's nothing anyone could've done to save him!" Marth started to break down as more and more tears fell down his cheeks, rushing out all at once. His sobbing grew louder as he took off his mask, covering his eyes with his hands as he continued to cry even more.

Reflet's mouth was left wide open. "No way. That can't be, right?" she said. "Chrom's like the strongest out of all of us. There's no way, right?" The last thing she wanted was to have Chrom die. He'd helped her out so much, he didn't deserve to die.

Marth didn't answer her, continuing to sob into his hands as he continued to cry. Reflet wrapped her arms around his shoulder, bringing herself closer beside him. She softly patted his head, much like the others would do to her.

"There, there, it'll be okay," she said. "I don't want Chrom to die, either. I know I've only known him for a short while, but he's been a great friend. I want to make sure he comes out of this alive, okay?" She wrapped her fifth finger around his arm, substituting it for his finger. It was a while before Marth finally calmed down, but he finally lifted his head up, putting his mask back on.

"Are you feeling better?" Reflet said, still holding him in her arms. She wiped the tears off his face, just wanting to make him feel better.

"Thank you… Reflet. I'm sorry," he said.

"Don't be sorry, it's okay." Reflet wiped another tear off his face, hugging his head softly and resting it on her chest.

"Marth, I want you to look at me when I say this," she said, rubbing his head gently as she spoke.

"What is it?" he said, turning his head up to see her own.

"It's just… if you ever want to talk to someone, then I'll be here for you, okay?" she said, giving a soft smile to him.

"...You would do that?" he said, his mouth opening slightly.

She scratched her head, playing with a small white curl of her hair. "Yeah, I think so. Whatever you saw in the future, it hurt you a lot. You're my friend, Marth. I want to help you, no matter what. That's why, if you want to talk about it with anyone, I'd like to help."

"You'd call me your friend?" Marth said as he furled his eyebrows. "But we've only just met now."

Reflet poked Marth's cheek the same way Liz did to her. "Boop," she said. "That doesn't make you not my friend. Chrom made me his friend the moment I met him. I've only known him for two days, but he's treated me so well already that I'd trust him with my life. We've been in fights together, against bandits, soldiers, people who've tried to hurt and kill him before. People who've tried to kill me. Two days ago, I woke up in the middle of the grass, not knowing anything about myself. And he just took me in, just like that. He said he'd let me tag along and join the Shepherds. So if I think about everything he's done for me, I realize you can be friends with someone you've only met for a short while. It isn't about how long you've known them, it's about how you help each other."

Marth slowly lowered his head, facing the floor. "My fa... Chrom, is a great person…" He said. "Thank you, Reflet, for the offer."

"Of course he is, and you're welcome." Reflet nodded, poking his cheek again. She flicked it up and down, making Marth giggle.

"Ahahah! What are you doing?" Marth grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her away. She pushed back, flicking his cheek again and again.

"Hahahah! Stop it!" Marth said, gigging louder.

"No!" she said, increasing the fervor of her blows. "You deserve a smile!"

"Stop! Stop! Okay, that's enough!" Marth used both his hands to pull her own away from him. "Ahem, thank you for trying to make me feel better." Now Marth really was smiling, the first time she'd ever seen him do so.

"So what about me?" she said, getting more serious. "Do I still live? And if I do, do I get my memories back?"

"…I don't know," Marth said, his face growing worried. "From what I saw, you were never there in the future. I don't think I've ever once heard the name Reflet in any of my visions."

Reflet furled her brows, putting a finger on her chin. "So the Shepherds all die, and I'm not there to help them. Why?" Now Reflet was worried about her future self's well being. She hoped she wasn't going to die any time soon. "Regardless, what can we do to change the future? How do we stop the world from ending?"

"What we need to do right now is to make sure that Chrom wins this tournament first and foremost," Marth said. "In the future, Chrom doesn't win this tournament. As a result, while he does receive aid from the West-Khan, the Feroxi army sees him as a weak ruler until the later stages of the war. The morale of the Feroxi army will be at a low point throughout the war, which will heavily impact the war between Ylisse and Plegia. If we do not win this tournament, it will be difficult to end the war as quickly as possible. And we need to end this war quickly, it is one of the key events that set the apocalyptic future in motion."

"So that's the plan?" she asked, putting her hands over her head. "We just have to win the tournament Flavia told us about earlier? Then we'll do it, and we'll do it together!" Reflet pumped the air with her fist, giving a nod to him. "We'll do it, alright? Let's do everything we can to help you change the future, for everyone!"

Marth looked at her, giving her a weak smile as a teardrop streamed down his mask. "Thank you, Reflet. Your words... they really are kind."

Reflet wiped his tears again. "But first, I need you to promise me something, Promise me you won't train until the tournament starts, okay?"

"But I need t—" Marth said before Reflet cut him off, putting a finger on his lips.

"Nope!" She shook her head, refusing to hear his point. "Please, you just collapsed from overworking yourself right now, and I don't want you doing that again. What if you hurt yourself? Then you won't even be able to fight in the tournament. That's what you're here for, right?"

"Then what would you have me do?" Marth said.

Reflet grabbed the light brown book she set down earlier, picking it back up and opening it. "We can do anything else but training. Here, read this with me." She gave him half of the book to hold, getting closer to him so that it'd be easier for her to read. Now comfortably seated, she read the book aloud for him.

"Flash will create a flash of light that can be used for…" Reflet let out a yawn, lazily reading the rest of the book as she found herself getting a little bit tired.

* * *

They read the book for several hours, nearly finishing it in one setting. Marth hadn't even realized the lights had turned off, having absorbed himself in the book the entire time. He felt Reflet's hand draping onto his head. She had fallen asleep on top of him, dozing off as she cuddled under her jackets for warmth.

"Reflet, come on. Let's head to bed…" He shook her gently, trying to get her up before someone noticed them. But unfortunately for Marth, she was out cold. The only things that came out of her mouth were small, unintelligible murmurs about whatever dream she was having.

With her being unresponsive, he carried her in her arms, making his way upstairs. Everyone in the Shepherds had to share a room with someone else, and he ended up getting Reflet as his sleeping partner. Exhausted, he stumbled as he went up the steps, holding her tighter as he tried to keep himself steady. He didn't want to trip with her in his arms and hurt her, after all. Reaching their room, he placed her on one of the beds, pulling the blanket over her to let her sleep comfortably.

Marth felt weariness start to take hold of him as he took a seat on her bed, putting a hand on his head as he struggled to stay awake. It had been so long since he had properly slept in a bed, and he couldn't help but want to sleep immediately. He lowered his head on the pillow right next to Reflet, intending to take only a short rest before going to his own bed. However, what was meant to be a short rest turned into a long sleep, and he ended up dozing off right beside the white-haired girl who promised to help him.

* * *

"Hey, Lucina?"

"Yeah, Severa?"

"What do you think life will be like once we get to Ylisse? You know, the other one?"

"...I've never considered that. Not once."

"Well to tell you the truth, I don't want to fight anymore."

"So you'll stop fighting once we get there?"

"No, I still will if I have to. But fighting isn't the reason I'm going there."

"Then what is your reason?"

"To live there. You know, actually living? I'm tired of fighting all these zombies and undead monsters. I'm tired of living on the run. I'm tired of this bleak, barren, and desolate wasteland we call home."

"…I'm tired too."

"I just want to be able to live. When we're done with this, this entire thing with this demon, I'm never picking up a sword again. I want to go out and eat something that'll taste amazing. I want to pick up sewing, and I wanna go shopping for once, like I was promised."

"The only thing I planned on doing was saving Emmeryn. After that, I always thought that once that was over then I'd just walk away."

"Walk away where, Lucina?"

"…I don't know."

"So you don't have any plans for the future?"

"…I don't know."

"…I don't know, Severa. I honestly don't know. I gave up thinking about those luxuries. Things like the future, what to eat, what to drink. Those just aren't for me to think about anymore, not when the world's like this."

"...I'm sorry, Lucina."

"All I want to do is to save this world, so that nobody else has to go through what we're going through. I don't care what happens after."

"...Hey, Lucina?"

"...Yeah, Severa?"

"What are you gonna do when you see Chrom again?"

"I…"


	6. Forty Copies

_March 9_ ,

"…Haaaa-aaah." Reflet yawned as the rays of the morning sun hit her face, opening her eyes to see the window and the clear, blue sky outside. Today's weather looked to be just like yesterday, cold, but not super cold, and would probably get warmer later on.

Reflet noticed something strange about the pillow under her neck. It was small, firm, and strangely, warm as well. It also felt like it was cupping her right cheek, softly playing with it up and down. She grabbed onto the pillow, locking her tiny fingers with the pillow's own.

Wait, fingers? Reflet turned her head to the right, noticing that a hand was wrapped around her own, pressing itself on her cheek as it rubbed it even faster.

"Huh?!" She yanked her hand away from it, turning her around to see that it was connected to a _giant blue bat._

"Oh dear Tiki, what is that?!" Reflet jumped out of bed to get away, hitting the floor as she stumbled. She grunted in pain as she got back up, scampering away to the door before she turned around, looking back at it once more.

"Wait, that's Marth," she said as she took notice of him on her bed. Reflet let out a sigh. Thankfully, it was just his mask that had scared her.

Why was Marth in her bed, though? His own bed didn't even look like it was touched by him last night, either. "Let's see," she muttered to herself. The last thing they did was read her book together nearly all the way through. After that, she remembered getting drowsy, which meant she most likely fell asleep. So given that she found Marth asleep next to her, he must have carried her upstairs before passing out.

"Aww, thank you, Marmar." Reflet's tongue twisted as she spoke, making her fumble her words. She shook her head. "It's not Mar-Mar, it's Marth," she said as a verbal reminder. Yet, as she said the word again, she couldn't help but like how it sounded. "Mar-Mar," she said, quietly giggling. "Mar-Mar! Mar-Mar-Mar-Mar-Mar-Mar!" Reflet entered a fit of laughter. It was really fun to say, just like how it was fun to say Liz, Donny and Cordie. Reflet put a hand over her mouth, moving closer to him to say "Thank you Mar-Mar" again.

Come to think of it, Marth wasn't awake to hear her thank him, was he? With that mask he always wears, she couldn't know for sure, leaning over his shoulder to try to check. She poked his cheek, confirming that he was in fact not awake. She would have to wait for later to thank him then. Reflet put a hand to her cheek as she stood there, staring at his mask in her idleness. Liz was right, that mask did make him a bit mysterious and cool.

Reflet narrowed her eyes as a thought crossed her brain. What would she look like with the mask on? Would she look as cool as Marth did? She smiled as she came up with an even better thought. Marth couldn't know she wore it if he wasn't awake to see her, would he?

Reflet played with the bottom of Marth's lip, pulling it open and closed as she spoke. "No, it's fine, Reflet. Of course you can take the mask. It's super cool and pretty and you should wear it."

"Thank you very much, Marth! You're a great friend!" Reflet raised two of her fingers, plucking the mask off his face. "Yoink! Mask equipped!" She giggled even louder as she hopped up and down, putting the mask on.

"Wow," she said. The first thing she noticed was that it was difficult to see through the mask. How does Marth even manage to walk around in it all day? Reflet went over to the mirror, squealing as she traced a finger over the gold highlights on the edges. If only she could show Liz how mysterious and cool she was right now. Did Marth always feel this cool? He probably did.

Still, she shouldn't wear the mask forever. It was time to give it back. When she was about to put the mask back on him, however, he turned in his sleep, revealing to her his now uncovered face.

"My-my." Reflet said. She leaned closer to his face, blinking several times as she cupped a hand to his cheek. It was so beautiful. His facial features were so soft and cute. They were a lot like a girl's, and like Chrom's, too,if his face was slightly smaller and much more feminine. Perhaps the cutest thing about him was his cheeks, which she couldn't help but put a hand on them, rubbing her fingers gently on them. And only now that she was close to him did she notice that he was wearing a tiara on his head, one that was just as pretty as the rest of his face.

Why was her face getting so hot? Setting the thought aside, she pinched both his cheeks, pulling them as she decided to play with them. They wibbled around rapidly, making sounds like splashing water which delighted her to no end.

"Father, no… don't go, don't leave me…"

Reflet let go of his cheeks the moment she heard him speak. He started to frown, and before long he was crying. He was having a bad dream about his dad, wasn't he? Marth let out a quiet sob, whispering 'Father' repeatedly in his sleep.

"Aww, Mar-Mar." Reflet put a hand on him, petting him softly on the cheek. The look of pain on Marth's face began to eased somewhat, and a little smile formed on his face. She smiled back at him, at least she could help him feel a teensy bit better.

"Hu… Hmm…?" Marth looked like he was beginning to stir awake. And crap, Reflet still had the mask on! She yoinked the mask off her face, setting it right down beside him before she sprinted out the door, hopping onto the couch downstairs to avoid getting in trouble.

* * *

Marth slowly rose from the bed, remembering the dreams he had. First was a dream about Severa, then the other was about his father. Both of those dreams made him feel terrible when he woke up, evidenced by the tear stains he found on his face.

Truth be told, things felt very off without any of his friends and family beside him. Especially his family. He knew it was likely that they all would most likely separate from one another on the way to Ylisse, yet he hoped that out of everyone, they would remain beside him. But fate had other plans, and so he was left to venture alone. Still, he held on to the sliver of hope that he'd be able to see them all again one day.

Why did his cheeks hurt? Marth rubbed a thumb on them, confused. He went down the steps, spotting Reflet resting on the couch, looking out the window aimlessly. Who exactly was she? That question had been lurking in the back of his head since they first met. She didn't exist in the future, at least not to his knowledge. But if she was here now, then that meant she was probably a former Shepherd in the future. That meant one day she'd either go missing, or, in the worst case scenario, would end up dying. Marth quietly prayed the latter wouldn't be the case for her or any of the Shepherds.

"Marth! You're awake!" Reflet said as she got off the couch. "So, are you ready to do stuff today? Chrom said we've got a break today."

"A break?" he asked.

"Yeah, the tournament doesn't start for another day. So he said we should find something fun to do." Reflet said. "So, what do you wanna do?"

"What do I want to do?" Marth asked. "Huh." He had not expected to hear such a question. The only thing he had planned for was to do his job. He never really figured out what he would do during the days in between his missions.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't have anything in particular to do except to wait for the tournament to pass."

"Well pick something!" she said, bouncing up and down. "Let's do something fun together!"

"Hmm," he hummed, putting a finger on his chin. "If I'm to pick, then perhaps could we train together?" That was something he could consider 'fun,' at least.

Reflet narrowed her eyes, giving him a pout. "Mmmm, that's boring. I said no training, remember? Besides, I was training before we left and it was very exhausting. Why should I spend my break doing something so tiring and boring?"

Marth crossed his arms. "There is nothing wrong with training. I, for one, happen to very much enjoy doing so. It helps to keep my skills sharp, as well, so there is a benefit to partaking in it. If you are to be a Shepherd, you would do well to refine your own abilities."

Reflet puffed her cheeks up as she put her hands on her hips. "Yeah? Well, pbbt!" She stuck her tongue out, blowing a raspberry at him. She then gave her a more serious look, letting her right hand swing loosely free. "Seriously though, I don't want to see you get hurt again. Can you please do this for me? At least for today?"

He sighed. "Fine, then could you perhaps choose instead?"

"Well, going outside to the market was pretty fun when Liz took me, so how about we do that?" she said. "Just give me a moment to change." Reflet went back upstairs and after some time she returned in her jacket, a purple shirt and black tights.

"I think I'm ready. Let's go!" she said. They left the Gray Palace, making their way to the streets of Felia. It wasn't particularly cold outside and there was only a weak amount of wind, making today feel rather pleasant. Reflet grabbed him by the arm, dragging him across the stone-paved city.

"Let's find a nice place to go to!" Reflet looked back at him and nodded. She continued to drag him around the city, eventually making their way to a large, domed building. It was easily the largest building in the area, larger than the Gray Palace and at least five stories tall. In front of it was a comparatively small building that Chrom was standing in front of, speaking to someone behind the counter.

Reflet pointed towards the smaller building. "Hey look, Hi Chrom!" she said, heading over to him.

"Hey, Reflet, Marth," Chrom said, turning to them. "What are you guys doing?"

"Oh, umm, hello there," Marth said, averting his gaze. He adjusted his mask, making sure Chrom could not see his eyes.

"We're just wandering around," Reflet said. "What are you doing?"

"Flavia gave me the sheet I need to pick our team for the tournament tomorrow," he said. "Do either of you want to join?

"Sure," Reflet said, taking the paper from him and signing her name on it. "Here you go, Marth."

Marth took the sheet from her, reading it. The names on the list were Wayne, Chrom, Vaike, Cordie, and Reflet, listed in that order.

"Wayne?" he said, muttering under his breath. That was certainly odd. He never once heard of someone named Wayne partaking in the tournament.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on, Mar-Mar!" Reflet said.

Marth shot his head up, turning to her. "Mar-Mar?"

"Alright, thanks for writing your names," Chrom said, taking the paper from him.

"I did?" he said.

"Hmm? Yeah, you did." Chrom handed the sheet back to the teller, who immediately took it and left. Marth caught a glimpse of the sheet as it left, realizing that he accidentally put Mar-Mar instead of Marth.

"Crap," Marth whispered under his breath as he bit his finger. That better not come to bite him later.

"Well, we just need one more person now," Chrom said. "But who to pick? Donny, Liz and Freddy are all busy, and Miriel is too. Who else is there?" Chrom scratched his nose with his ring finger, taking a look around.

"Wait Chrom! Chroooom!" someone shouted from behind them.

"Huh?" Chrom said. The three of them turned around to see a tall, black haired man running towards them. He was wearing a plain red shirt and brown pants, and kept waving at them as he approached.

"You're gonna let me join right, Chrom?" the man said as he reached them. His hands were on his knees as he panted, exhausted and looking desperate.

"Kellam? How did you even get here?" Chrom called for the teller to give him the sign-in sheet, looking back at Kellam with furled eyebrows.

"Wait, you seriously didn't notice me?" Kellam said. He wrote his name on the paper, handing it back with a disappointed look on his face.

"No, I didn't at all, sorry," Chrom said.

"Not even when you made your announcement in the training yard?"

Chrom scrunched his eyebrows. "Wait, you were there?"

"What about the carriage ride?"

"I think we might've been in the other carriage?"

Kellam shook his head. "And the battle yesterday?"

Chrom turned his eyes to the ground, scratching his head. "Sorry Kellam, I just didn't notice…"

Kellam sighed, squatting down on his knees. "Dang it… Not again…" he said. "It's okay It's not just you who does it."

Reflet crouched down next to him, waving her hand at him. "Umm, excuse me, what's going on?"

"Nothing, it's just"—Kellam sighed—"people have a tendency to not notice me sometimes."

"Aww, I'm sorry," she said. "Well, my name is Reflet, and I promise I won't forget you, Kellam."

"Yeah, thank you." He gave her a weak smile, bumping her fist. "But good luck doing so. I think I'm cursed to be forgettable."

"Never! I swear on it!" She made a pinky promise with him, making him smile a little more.

"Ah-hah, alright then, sure. I like you already." He chuckled, getting back on his feet as he turned back towards the Gray Palace. "Well, Chrom, I'm going to head back to train for the tournament, you're welcome to join me if you want!" he said as he headed off.

Marth also would've gone with him to train, if only the girl he just met wasn't giving him an annoyed stare. Reflet squinted at him, gripping his arm tightly yet harmlessly.

"You're not going to follow him," she said with a high pitch and a pout.

Marth sighed, leaning forward and squinting back at the tiny girl. "Fine."

Marth heard two sets of footsteps heading their way. He turned around, spotting both Cordelia and Frederick. Frederick held onto a piece of paper with both his hands, intending to hand it to Chrom.

"Hey, you two!" Chrom said.

"H-Hi everyone, what's up?" Cordelia said. "What are you doing, Chrom?"

"Well, I just finished getting everyone signed in for the tournament. That means I'm now free to enjoy the rest of our break." He stretched his arms, putting a hand on his neck. "Umm, that being said, do you think we could hang out now, finally?"

"Oh, hang out?" Cordelia said. "You mean now? Like, now-now?" She started wrapping a hair around her finger, twisting it around somewhat rapidly.

"Yeah, I don't see why not," he said, rubbing his neck more as he turned his head to the side. "We've hung out before, haven't we? Plenty of times, I'm sure." He grabbed her shoulder and one of her arms, pointing to a restaurant nearby. "See over there? I was thinking we could go there and get something to eat there. I just thought that since we're both free today that it'd be fun to hang out, you know?"

Cordelia's eyes lingered on him for more than a moment witha her lips slightly parted, staring at him as if she was admiring a painting. "Ah, sure!" she said, darting her eyes away from him. She put her other hand on her head as she let out a laugh. "Yes, that would be absolutely fine!"

"Yes!" Chrom said. "I'll just go find Flavia and tell her we're done here, and then we can meet up later! How about for dinner?"

"Of course, dinner's the best!" Cordelia said.

Chrom nodded. "I like dinner, too." Cordelia stepped away from him, covering her cheek with her hand while shaking her head. She went back over to where Frederick stood, letting him speak.

"Milord," he said, "As you know, I cannot partake in the tournament as I will be assisting Lissa in training Donnel in the art of magic. I must ask for your opinion, do you think I should have him understand fire magic first? Or perhaps wind magic?" The way he spoke was even more formal than he usually did, which Marth couldn't help but find odd.

Chrom crossed his arms, pointing a finger to him. "I'd say go with fire magic first. It's the easiest type of spell to learn and the most useful, I'd say. But after he's learned it, then if he wants to he can switch to wind magic.

Frederick bowed to him. "As you wish, Milord. Also, I must inform you that your clothes have been repaired. They look as perfect as they did the first day. I have also requested for the palace tailor to fashion you two new ones, just in case the first one is ever damaged beyond repair."

Chrom raised his eyebrows. "Oh, thank you Frederick. That's very kind of you."

Frederick then coughed into his sleeve before giving Chrom a serious look. "And excuse me, Milord, but do you remember yesterday when Flavia mentioned that Gangrel had sent Plegians disguised as you to attack the Longfort?"

"Yea, and what of it?" Chrom asked.

"Well it will simply not do to have impersonators running around, wouldn't you agree?" Frederick asked. "I believe we should make your face known by planting posters in and around the Feroxi east capital. That way, everyone will know your name from now on and this issue will never reoccur."

Chrom nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

"I thought the same. Still, I would ask that you look at one of them, just to confirm that you are okay with the designs," Frederick said, passing the poster to him.

"Sure," Chrom said as he took the paper from him. "I don't think there'll be anything wrong with these posters tho—"

Chrom went silent as he stared at the poster, his eyes widening very slowly. He then looked at Frederick, letting out a disgusted snarl before looking back at the paper as he raised it up to his eye level, raising his own eyebrows as he stared at it again. He then stared back at Frederick, lightly nodding his head.

He then put his hand on his face and made one loud, scream-like exhale.

"Frederick," he said in the most quiet voice he could make. "What in Forseti's name have you done."

"Is it not to your liking Milord?" Frederick asked, taking the poster back.

"Oh, it's to my liking alright, if I wanted people to see my nudes!" He threw his hands up into the air. "How many fucking posters did you make?! And why do they look so nice?!"

"I believe I told the artist to make forty in all," he said, sounding apologetic. "I have already posted all of them in and around the palace."

Chrom closed his eyes as he gripped his face tightly. Releasing his grip, he opened his mouth and exhaled once more. He then put one hand back on his head, dragging it down his face as he groaned even louder. Finally, he looked at Frederick before he bolted towards the palace, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Dear gods, Frederick," Cordelia said, putting a hand on her cheek. "What did you do to him?"

"Do you remember 'Frederick the worrying?'" Frederick said, looking straight ahead with a thousand-yard stare.

"Yeah?" Cordelia said.

"This is revenge for what he calls jokes," he said in a monotone voice.

"Holy crap, Frederick," she said.

Frederick chuckled a chilling and evil sound as if he were the Demon King himself. "I only made the one here in my hand. I never actually planned to post anything. I just wanted to make it seem as believable as possible."

"Well alright, but what's on this poster exactly?" Cordelia asked.

Frederick handed the poster to her. "See for yourself."

Marth leaned over Cordelia's shoulder alongside Reflet. He was also curious as to what made Chrom act that—

"Dear Gods, no," he said once his eyes met the poster. He was posing boldly, with his left hand on his hip holding his rapier in a reverse-grip and his right hand pulling up his shirt up to his upper chest, showing off his well-built abs and torso. He tilted his head slightly to the right, giving a wink and a confident smile. On the bottom in small, yet bold and italicized letters read: " _ **Chrom Wants you!" Chrom Lowell, Prince of Ylisse, @TheArtistCurrentlyKnownAsAnna.**_

And he was completely naked. Marth blinked several times as he continued to stare at the poster. If he wasn't so shocked right now, he might've screamed as loudly as Chrom had. A mixture of giggles and laughter came from the floor, where Reflet was making her grave.

"Why did you make this," he asked Frederick.

"Once you live as his knight for fourteen years, you will understand what hell he's put me through," Frederick said with a satisfied smirk. "In anycase, I'm going to throw this away before someone may lay their eyes on it."

He could not keep his eyes away from this, this hellish artwork. In what world did this need to exist in?

"Hey, uhh, Frederick?" Cordelia said.

"Yes Cordelia?" he said.

"Could I throw that away for you? I need to go back to my room, so I can"—she slowly shifted her eyes from one side to the other—"throw some things away."

"I suppose I could trust you," he said. "Take it and be done with it quickly."

Cordelia took it from him and folded it neatly, stuffing it in her purse as she quickly walked away from the scene.

* * *

Was there a magic spell that could wipe Marth's memory clean? He never thought he'd see such a risque picture of Chrom naked, and yet here he was. If there was one thing he never needed to know, it was this.

"Are you doing okay, Marth?" Reflet asked as she got up from the floor, waving her hand over his mask. At least she seemed to be having a better time than he was.

"Just take me somewhere where I can forget about what I just saw," Marth said, groaning in agony. Reflet dragged him by the arm through the street until they reached a nearby shop. The inside of the shop had an old-fashioned yet clean look to it, with dark-brown wooden countertops and a green rug for flooring. A bell rang as they stepped inside the shop, one which struck him with a sudden wave of familiarity.

"Wait…" Marth looked at the bell hanging from a string from the top of the door, reaching for it. He ran a finger on the small, silver bell shaped like a bag with a small bullion beside it. It was just like the old one, only newer.

"...Ting-ting," he whispered, smiling as he rang it a couple of times.

"What's up with the bell, Marth?" Reflet asked, looking at it curiously.

"Huh? It's nothing." Marth coughed as he straightened his face, putting the bell back on the door.

"Wait! Can I see?" Reflet asked, making a grabbing motion at the bell she was too short to reach. Marth lowered the bell for her, letting her pinch it in her hands.

"Hehe! It's shaped like money! And it goes 'ting!" Reflet giggled, making it chime.

"Howdy-howdy! Anna reporting, what do you need?"

He turned around, smiling when he saw her. Her red hair and red eyes were almost exactly how they looked like when he last saw her. She wore a beige-colored dress with black sleeves and tights, without the red cloak she often wore.

"Anna!" he said. "It's you!"

"The one and only!" she said, closing her eyes and smiling. "Have we met before? You seem like you know me."

"Oh, no." He coughed, trying to look less excited. He was getting ahead of himself. Still, he was more than happy to see her. "I, uhh, simply heard about your shop and I was interested in seeing it in person."

"Ooh, someone recommended me?" Anna said. "I love when that happens! Do you know their name?"

"Umm…" Marth quickly thought of anyone who might've been likely to know about her shop at this time. "Cordelia."

"Thanks! I'll make sure to talk to 'em if I see 'em!" Anna said. "I'll be right back, okay? I just need to take care of a customer." She walked to the back of the shop where a woman in a large mage hat stood in front of the counter, watching them. It was Miriel.

Marth looked around the shop while he waited, taking in the sense of nostalgia it gave him. It was just like the shop from his home, with only a few differences in layout and design. It was a bit unusual to him, seeing as he hadn't seen it in forever.

"Is that the one?" Anna asked Miriel as she went behind the counter, making tiny steps as she pointed to the shelf behind her.

"It is," Miriel said. Anna made another half step, pointing to the next shelf.

"And is that the one?" she said.

"Correct," she said. Anna put everything Miriel had asked for inside a brown bag, wrapping it up to go.

"That'll be 3000 Yinny, please!" Anna said as she stretched her hand out.

"That's more than acceptable." Miriel took out a pouch and handed her six gold coins, each worth 500.

"Thanks a bunch!" Anna said. Miriel took the bag from her, looking down at its contents as she walked away from the counter, accidentally bumping into Reflet.

"Oops!" Reflet said, keeping her steady.

"Oh!" Miriel said, taking a step backwards. "Forgive me, I was not paying adequate attention to your arrival." She nodded, adjusting the glasses that nearly fell off her face. "Good afternoon, Reflet."

"Hi, Miriel," she said. "What's all this stuff you got?"

"My assistant, Canas, wished for me to procure more supplies for him so that he may further develop one of his experiments. Curious to see what he would do with them, I agreed." Miriel adjusted her misaligned hat as she turned to Marth. "As I was aware, you are Marth, correct? We have not had a chance to meet."

"Umm, yes, I am," he said, not sure how to respond to her.

Miriel took out a book, preparing to write something down. "That is a rather peculiar mask you have equipped, one which prods my curious mind. You have worn it the entire time since you had arrive, and yet for what reason? Is there some secret regarding your eyes?"

"My mask?" He turned away from her. "I-I just can't let others see my eyes."

Miriel wrote something down within the book as she whispered something to herself. "Fascinating. Perhaps it is worn because of emotions of apprehension? Or out of some form of necessity? Or perhaps there is some form of magic spell that is activated from one's eye, and must be hidden as to not overtax the wielder? I must form a hypothesis and gather more information in the future."

"Uhh, right," he said, not quite understanding every word she said.

"You know, I was curious about that mask, too." Anna left the counter, walking over to them. "I think it's pretty awesome!"

"You do?" Marth said to her.

"Yep!" she said, putting a finger on her chin. "Say, what do you think about letting me make more of them?"

"You wish to make more of these?" he said, running a finger along the edge of his mask.

"Mmhm! I was thinking something along the lines of a wooden model for now. Then everyone could have a mask like yours. Wouldn't that be cool?"

A smile broke through as he thought of what it would be like to see all his friends wearing his mask all at the same time. Admittedly, the thought made him giggle. "Yes, I think I'd very much like that."

"That would be rather interesting to see," Miriel said. "And the thought of being able to record how the mass populace would respond to such a mask has begun to captivate me, as well." Miriel wrote in her book once more as she headed out the door. "Yet for now, I must take my leave. Good day, you three."

"Cha-ching!" Anna said, pumping her fist. "Between this deal and that poster that butler-looking guy asked me to make, I'll be rolling in dough!"

Marth's smile transformed into a scowl of disgust. "Wait, you were the one who made that picture of Chrom?" Eww, just thinking about it was enough to make him shiver.

Reflet giggled, covering her lips with her hand. "You made such an amazing piece of work?"

"You liked it? I think it's my best work yet!" Anna put her knuckles on her hips, beaming with pride. "When I put this on the Annanet, everyone's gonna love this. Chrom's really popular with all the boys and girls, you know? I bet it'll make a fortune!"

"Why on earth would you make such a thing," he said, still shivering in horror as the image entered his brain again.

Anna looked at him defensively. "Hey, I'm not the one who asked me to make it! Besides, I'm not gonna turn down a deal like that! That's a waste of money!" She huffed, pointing to Reflet. "You should be more like this little miss here," she said, turning to her. "At least you have a good eye."

"Daww, thanks," Reflet said with a blush.

Marth sighed under his breath. Despite everything, it somehow made sense for Anna to be the one to make the accursed thing. As long as there was enough money involved to make a sizable profit and it didn't go against her morals, she would do anything she was capable of.

"Well, do you have everything you need?" Anna said, turning back to the counter. "I've actually gotta close up in a few minutes. You see, I'll be setting up for the Earth King's Tournament, so I'll need to lock up early."

"Oh, you're going to the tournament?" Reflet asked.

"Of course! It's only the most important event in Ferox!" Anna raised a hand to cover the left side of her lips, narrowing her eyes. "Plus, you won't believe how much people are willing to pay for my stuff over there. It's crazy how much my profits skyrocketed the last time. Stop by when you get the chance, I'll show you some of my best stuff!"

"Okay," Reflet said. "But we're probably going to be fighting for a while, so I'll try to see if I can make it."

Anna flinched, raising an arm to her chest. "Wait, you're going to be fighting in the tournament?"

Reflet nodded. "Yeah, we are!"

Anna looked at her with wide eyes, tapping her finger on her chin repeatedly. "Who else is coming?"

Reflet pointed to Marth. "Him, for one. Then there's Cordie, Kellam, Chrom, Vaike—"

"Wait-wait, you just said Chrom?" Anna's tapping nearly doubled in speed as a small smirk grew on her face. "As in Chrom Lowell the Prince of Ylisse? He's here? Right now? In Felia? And he's also going to be fighting in the tournament?" If Marth had to guess, she was coming up with some kind of money-making scheme in her head right now.

"Yep," Reflet said. "He's one of my best friends!"

Anna let out a squeal, quickly moving towards Reflet. "Oh my gods, can you help me meet him?"

Reflet chuckled, nodding in agreement. "If that's what you want, then sure!"

Anna squealed again, hugging Reflet and making her squeak. "Thank you so much!"

"Eheh, you're welcome," Reflet said. Anna pulled away from her, heading over to the large window of her shop near the entrance. She flipped over the sign that said her shop was open, signaling it was closed.

"Now, I'm very thankful to you all for coming today, but I really need to close-up now!" Anna said. "Bye-bye!" She waved them off, opening the door for them to leave.

Marth gave her a bow, smiling back at her. "Thank you as well." He waved back at her, heading out of the shop with Reflet.

"You know," Reflet said as she turned to him as the door behind them closed. "You looked super happy in there."

"I did?" Marth asked her.

"Yep, when you were playing that bell!" she said.

His cheeks blushed as he looked away from her. "I-I was not playing with the bell, I was merely inspecting it!"

"Yes you were, you were having fun!" she teased, giggling like an impish maiden. "And you had fun talking to her!"

He crossed his arms, tapping his foot on the ground. "Alright, I admit it, so I was. There, are you happy with yourself?"

"Yep! I'm glad to see you're feeling happier." Reflet giggled again, poking him in his shoulder.

"Well, thank you," he said. "It's just that when I was a kid, my father used to take me all the time to our favorite shop. We lived right next to it, and I was always excited to go with him and see not just everything the store had to offer, but the shop owner herself. The shop owner was this lady who loved money more than almost anything else in the world, but she was also a very kind and sweet woman, one who helped my family ever since they first met." He turned back to her, uncrossing his arms. "I guess when I saw Anna, I was reminded of her."

Reflet put her hands on both her cheeks, listening intently to every word he spoke. "Dawww. That's so cute. I wish I had a memory to share with you."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You see, I have amnesia. I haven't been able to remember I don't know what my life was like up until a few days ago." Reflet frowned, looking down at the ground as she stiffened up one of her cheeks. "Everything is just so hazy whenever I think about it. I feel like a part of me is missing..."

"Oh…" That's right, she mentioned something about wanting to get her memories back the night before. "I'm sorry, I hadn't considered it."

She shook her head, closing her eyes as her frown shifted back to a smile. "It's not your fault." She opened her eyes back up, letting him see her soft, purple eyes. "It's nobody's fault that I can't remember anything. It's just something that happened to me." Shortly after, she furrowed her eyebrows, returning to her frown.

"You know," he said, "for quite a while, I often spent the night crying over my own memories."

Her eyes turned back to him. "You did? Why?"

"My father," he said. "I loved him more than anything else in the world, as any child would love their father. And he loved me all the same. Then one day, he died," he said, shaking his head. "I can never forget that day. I had begged him not to leave us, not to leave me. But in his heart, he knew that was not a choice he could make. He gave up his life, all in the hopes that he could protect us that day."

Reflet touched her fingers together, pouting as she lowered her head. "I'm sorry, Marth…"

"It's alright," he said. "Since that day, I've always had nightmares of my last moments with him." He looked away from her, sniffling. "I often find myself waking in the middle of the night, crying over losing him. Even last night, I found that I had cried in my sleep after once again dreaming of my father." He wiped his nose, sniffling again as he turned back to her. "What I wished to say was that my aunt had once told me something during one of those nights. Those words have kept me going through some of the darkest times."

Reflet raised her head back up, looking back into his eyes. "What were those words?"

"No matter how bad things have been in the past, have hope as you look towards the future." He closed his eyes, touching the hilt of his sword. "Sometimes, that may be all we have."

"Look to the future…" Reflet mimed the words with her lips as she shook her head, giving her a smile. "Thank you, Mar-Mar."

Hearing that name made Marth's cheeks turn red. "That name, why do you call me that?" he said, shifting his eyes to the floor.

"Eep." Reflet froze up as she started to blush. "Umm, in the morning, I said it instead of your name accidentally." She tilted her neck away from him, tugging on her hood to cover her cheeks. "Then I, I thought it would be nice to say as a nickname."

He scrunched his brows as he listened to her. The name was so… unlike Marth. It sounded sweet and kind, childish, even. Things that he'd never imagined the Hero-King to be, the Hero-King he had to be like for his people. But she meant no harm by it.

"It's fine. You may continue to use it, i-if you wish," he said. If it was just her saying it, he didn't mind it all that much. Plus, it wasn't as if all of Felia was going to start calling him by that name, he hoped.

"Okay." Reflet pulled on her hood even more before slowly lowering it, smiling sheepishly back at him with pink, burning cheeks. "Thank you, Mar-Mar. And thank you for carrying me to my bed, too."

"You're welcome," he said.

Reflet let out a sigh, putting a hand to her chest and extending her other hand. "Do you want to keep walking with me?" she said. He looked at her, bringing his own arm towards hers and letting her wrap her hand around his.

"Yes, I would," he said, giving her a smile. Together, they would walk throughout the roads of Felia, enjoying what would be Marth's first break in what seemed like a lifetime.

* * *

Cordelia paced in front of the restaurant she promised to meet Chrom at. She just had to say yes when he grabbed her by the arm, didn't she? Gods damn him and his pretty eyes and his warm arms. Was it even a good idea to be wearing a dress right now? He didn't tell her what to wear. Oh dear gods, she overdressed for this.

"It's going to be okay, Cordie," she said to herself. "You're just going to go in there, eat some food and talk to him. Simple, right?"

This was not simple at all. Her heart was already beating as fast as a rabbit's.

_If you're so scared, you should just leave right now._

But she didn't want to do that to him. He was the one who asked her to be here, and she, despite her conscience, agreed to do so.

_Please, do you really think he cares about you at all? He doesn't even notice your feelings, why on earth would he care about them?_

Cordelia didn't want to listen to that part of her brain. She knew that if she was in his position, she would be upset if he promised he'd be here and wasn't when it was time to meet. Anyone would be upset, romantic feelings or not. She buckled down, taking a breath as she put a hand on the brown front door leading inside.

She closed her eyes. "Come on, Cordie, you can do this." Opening them back up, she made her way inside, leading to a warmly lit waiting area with wooden floors and soft looking chairs. It was a little fancier than she hoped. How expensive was this place? Who would be paying? She had brought her purse with her, just in case something should happen.

"Good evening," the waiter at the counter said.

"Hello, I'm looking for Chrom Lowell?" she said.

"Ah, yes, he arrived ten minutes ago." The waiter lifted his board, adjusting his glasses as he pointed to the left. "Come with me." The waiter led her all the way at the very back where Chrom was. He had his nose stuck reading the menu. He was still wearing the usual one-sleeved shirt and gray pants he always wore, though they looked freshly made. The white cape he wore was gone, letting her see the other lean, nice shoulder normally hidden by it.

"H-hey, Ch-Chrom," she said. She looked down at her own clothes, grimacing at the white, sleeveless dress that went down just above her knees with lace at its ends. She really did come overdressed for this.

"Hmm?" Chrom lifted his head up as he turned to her with a smile. "Oh, Cordie. You look pretty."

"I, I do?" She turned away from him as her cheeks turned warm. "Thanks." She took the seat across from him. Her eyes were caught alternating between looking at his and not looking at his. She didn't know which to do. Was she staring at him too much? Or would he think she's weird for not staring at him at all?

"So, what do you wanna eat?" he asked.

"Umm, I don't know, I'm sorry," she said quickly. "Whatever you pick, I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Okay, how about steaks, then?" Chrom said.

"Sure, that sounds good, I think." Cordelia tilted her neck upwards as the heat of her face flushed down to it. She swallowed the air in her throat, struggling to keep her eyes on him.

He put the menu down, putting a hand on the back of his head as he turned his eyes upwards. "What about to drink? Do you want maybe a wine or a beer?" he asked.

"Uhh, wine, thank you." She couldn't remember the last time they were together like this. Sure, they were together during the carriage ride, but at least there she had Freddy and Liz to distract her from him. The two of them completely alone was something that felt completely foreign to her. She remembered when she didn't have a crush on him, when things were so much easier.

"Excuse me," Chrom said as the waiter came by their table again. "Can I get two steaks, wine for the both of us, and an orange for myself?"

"Of course," the waiter said, heading back to the kitchen. He returned later, setting down a plate for her and for him. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Chrom said, digging into his food. "Hey, are you feeling okay, Cordie?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. "W-what's wrong?"

"I can't help but notice you seem tense lately, like during the carriage ride. Is something up?"

"O-oh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it, okay?" she said. "I'm fine, haha..."

"Well, alright," he said. "But you know you can talk to me about anything." Chrom put his food down, grabbing his orange so he could take a bite.

"Ah," Cordelia gasped, lowering her head as it burned even hotter. "Thank you, Chrom." She couldn't help her lips from curling upwards. Even though she was nervous, his words really were sweet.

"Hey, Cordie?" Chrom said.

"Yeah?" she said as she turned back to him. "What do you..."

Cordelia trailed off once she realized what he was doing. She grabbed her face with the fingers of her hand, her mouth half opened as she squinted at him in the eyes.

"What's up?" he said with his mouth full of an unpeeled orange. He didn't stop to cut it, he simply just bit into the peel as if it was an apple.

She chuckled lightly. "Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" he said, his mouth still full.

"You're still eating your oranges unpeeled!" She covered her mouth with her hand, looking away as she found herself laughing like crazy.

Chrom swallowed. "And?" He let out a breath through his nose, turning one of his palms over to her.

"Why? Why do you do this?"

He smiled, raising an eyebrow. "I don't have the time to peel my oranges, okay?"

"It's just two seconds!" she said, throwing a hand in the air.

"And that's two seconds, too many!" he said, biting into his orange again.

Cordelia inhaled deeply, before letting out another laugh over his ridiculousness. "You're a dork."

"Well, this dork likes his oranges unpeeled and you can't stop me." Chrom snickered, shrugging as he bit his orange again.

"Oh gods, no." Cordelia shook her head as she cut her steak, taking a bite. "At least this food's pretty good."

"It is, right? I'm glad," Chrom said, pouring wine into his glass. "I'm gonna drink, if you don't mind."

Cordelia looked at the bottle, deciding for a moment over whether she should drink or not. They did have the tournament to go to tomorrow, but today was also her break day. "Sure, I guess I will, too." She took a sip of her wine. It was strong and a little bit bitter, but it was alright. She took another sip, getting a strand of hair out of her face. "Geh, it's fine."

"So, how have you been liking this trip? I know we're here on a mission, but I'd say I've liked it so far. I think it's been pretty fun, despite everything we've been through."

"Yeah, it is," she chuckled, taking another sip of her wine. She started to feel the alcohol having an effect, but it wasn't that rough on her. She turned back to him as she stared into his pretty blue eyes, giggling as she admired them longingly.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

"A dork." She giggled even more at him, her face beaming. Maybe it was the wine and him being a dork, but she felt like a small weight was lifted off her heart. She'd at least enjoy what she could of the time she had with him like this.

"And the lady and the prince were finally able to talk as people for once. Little did the clueless prince know, however, that his lady had fallen head over heels for him. Yet it was the case that the lady would never tell him of her feelings, for she was known to be a shy woman when it came to matters of the heart."

Cordie's face flushed as she hit her hand on the table, shooting her neck to the side. "Excuse me?" Across from them was a silver-blue-haired man in his early-to-mid twenties. He wore a fancy blue vest with a white shirt underneath, and wrapped around his neck was a fancy-looking cravat. He sipped from a glass of wine as he slowly turned his eyes towards her, taking them off the open book in his other hand.

"Hmm?" The man said as he seemingly took notice of them.

She crossed her arms, giving him a nasty look. "You were eavesdropping on us, weren't you?"

He shook his head, looking surprised. "Oh dear, heavens no! Forgive me, I had merely came up with new material to write for my novel!" he said, selling her a smirk that Cordelia didn't want to buy. "Now if you'll excuse me for a second." He put down his book, scribbling something down on it in ink before setting it aside.

"Oh really? Then what's this book about then. Mister…?" Cordelia asked, before she remembered she didn't actually ask for his name.

"My name is Wayne," he answered. "And my novel is of a romance between a prince who seeks revenge for the death of his parents, and of the lady who has sworn to protect him with her life at all cost. As the story continues, the prince will slip further into the darkness, though I have yet to figure out how to end the story."

"Oh yeah?" she said skeptically. "Let me see."

"Suit yourself." the man said as he handed her the novel with his pinched fingers. "I hope you'll enjoy."

She flicked through the book, scanning through its contents. She clicked her tongue. The book was about exactly what he said aloud. She turned the page, stumbling across one particularly… steamy… scene he had written. She continued to read the passage, pulling the book closer to her face to hide her blush.

_Oh gods this better than I was expecting._

"Are you enjoying?" Wayne asked with a smarmy and self-satisfied grin.

"I'm not enjoying it," she said, her voice slightly raised in pitch. "I'm just trying to look for things to critique."

He snickered. "Of course."

Cordelia finished reading the scene, scratching her nose with the side of her hand as she handed it back to him. "Hmph, your work is fine."

"I'm rather pleased with how the work is developing, myself. I hope that you may one day find it under the title 'Drake - the Daring and the Dashing.' If this novel sells well, I'll be sure to evolve it into a proper series." Wayne gave her and Chrom a bow, before sneaking a glance at the sword at Chrom's side.

"Say, that weapon, how did you come across it?" There was a glint in his eyes. Cordelia took another sip of her wine, watching him to see if he'd try anything.

"This?" Chrom said, unsheathing his Queensfang for a moment. "It's my family's, why?"

"Would you be so kind as to let me hold it for a moment?" Wayne asked.

"Hmm… alright." Chrom handed the blade to him, letting him take a look. "But only for a moment."

"Interesting, it's craftsmanship is phenominal." Wayne held the sword upwards as if he was a knight, inspecting every inch of the Queensfang. "And yet, though the blade looked rather sharp when you had held onto it, on closer inspection, it's rather dull."

"Dull?" Chrom took his blade back from him, staring back at both the Queensfang and at Wayne. "That's impossible."

"Such a shame, still, it is a work of beauty." He raised both his hands into the air casually, then pointed one to Chrom. "Tell me, how much would it take for you to part with it?"

"You want to buy this from me?" Chrom said.

"I was thinking more along the lines of a game. A gamble, rather," he said.

"You want us to gamble with you?" Cordelia said. She was going to need more wine for this. She refilled her glass, taking a long sip from her drink.

"A friendly little wager," Wayne said. "So? Do you accept?"

Chrom pulled his sword away from him, hugging it like a treasured valuable. "I don't care how much you'd pay me or try to bet, but I'm sober enough to know that the Queensfang is not on the table."

Cordelia sipped her wine again, swirling it around as she rested her cheek on her fist. _Gods, I wanna be hugged like that. Why can't Cordie be on the table?_

"I see." Wayne closed his eyes, tilting his head to the left. "Alas, I was hoping we could strike a deal. After all, I know all there is to know about your opponent tomorrow."

"Wait…" Chrom narrowed his eyes. "Who told you we were in the tournament?"

He pointed to the Mark of Naga on Chrom's shoulder. "You're Chrom Lowell, are you not? Not only does the mark on your shoulder give you away, but you also have been developing a name for yourself as of late."

"Hmm, alright…" Chrom said. "So, say we do take your bet, what are the stakes?"

"Simple. If you win, I'll tell you everything I know of your opponent. But if I win, then you give me one of your most valuable items."

"We're going to trade one of our valuables for only information?" Cordelia said.

Wayne flicked his hair to the side. "Do not underestimate the power of information, my dear friend. Knowing one's enemies can be a powerful tool in advance. Where the enemies are, what their equipment is, their fighting styles, even their secrets. If you were to know all of that, then you could exploit each and every factor to secure your victory. I have learned something about the one who leads the West-Khan's champions, and that information is quite valuable to me. Now the question remains, how valuable is it to you?"

"One second." Cordelia pulled Chrom away from Wayne, the both of them sitting back at their table next to each other.

"How do you feel about this, Chrom? Should we take his offer?" she whispered to him.

"I don't know yet," Chrom said. "Let's think."

"If we know what we're up against, it would help us out in the long run," she said. "Maybe he'll give something we can use against Lon'qu."

"But isn't there the possibility that his information could be useless?" he asked.

"We don't know, but there's also the possibility that his info could be really valuable. We only have a day to prepare, we need this," she said.

"But I can't just give him the Queensfang. It belonged to Marth. Plus, my entire family would get pissed off if they knew I bet it in a game."

"Hey, Wayne," she called out to him. "Would you accept something else besides his sword?"

"Of course!" he said. "I'm an agreeable man, after all! Do know, however, that my time and yours are both limited. I don't have all day to wait for you to find something to offer."

"Well that's good, but we can't go back to our rooms to find something," Chrom said. "I don't see what else we can use here."

"If I might suggest something," Wayne said, pointing to Cordelia. "Perhaps your purse contains something of worth?"

"There's not much in here," Cordelia said, opening and closing the sides of her purse as if they were a mouth.

"Still, it couldn't hurt to check. I am the one who gets to decide whether your belongings are valuable or not."

"Fine, see for yourself." He wouldn't find anything worth betting in there though. All she had in there was a comb, some perfume, some money and Chrom's…

_Oh crap, Chrom's—_

"Oh? Ohh…" Wayne's eyes blinked as he found something he considered 'valuable.' He picked out a small, folded-up piece of paper. Slowly, he unfolded the paper piece by piece until it was completely flat, staring brow-raised and pursed-lipped at its contents. He then flipped it around between his index and middle finger, looking at Chrom with an intrigued grin as he showed him the poster of him naked.

_God damn it, Drunk Cordie! You were supposed to hide that!_

"What the actual shit?" Chrom got out of his seat, slamming the table. "Cordie, why on earth do you have my nudes?"

"Uhh, umm…" Cordelia panicked, quickly coming up with whatever excuse she could think of. "Freddy told me to go throw them away and I forgot!"

Chrom sat back down, covering his hand with his face. "Alright, but, urghh…"

Thank god that was actually the case, Cordelia thought as she let out a breath. Had she not thought quickly enough, that might've been a death sentence.

"Ah, I see you two are having a lover's quarrel," Wayne said.

Cordelia blushed, turning back to him. "W-we're not dating!"

He scoffed. "Of course you're not. I never would've expected you two to be."

"Hey!" Chrom shouted. "Who says we're not dating? Wait, no you're right, we're not dating."

Cordelia was happy for a second before that happiness was ripped apart by his second sentence. She popped open the wine bottle, pouring more of it into her glass as she took another swig. Yeah, of course not. _Thanks, guys, for not rubbing it in._

"In anycase, I believe that this picture of you shall be perfectly cromulent for our game," Wayne said.

Chrom tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, Cordie, can you explain to me what cromulent means?"

"It's just a fancy way to say acceptable," she said, setting her empty glass down and wiping the liquor off her lips with a finger.

"I see. That does sound very cromulent," Chrom said as he turned back to Wayne. "Okay, but why do you want my nudes specifically?"

"Do you know how valuable nudes are in Rosanne, the dukedom made famous for its artistic depictions of all things romantic?" he said. "And a prince's nudes no less. All the citizens from both Valentia and Archanea will flock to visit our museum once we have this as our centerpiece."

Chrom scowled in despair. "Oh dear gods no."

"First, what's this game we're playing?" Cordelia said. "I want to know before we place our bet."

"Very well," Wayne said. "Do either of you know what Pot of Greed does?"

"It lets you draw two cards from your deck," the both of them answered simultaneously.

He shook his head. "Well I'd love to play that game, but sadly I do not have it on me currently."

"Dammit," they said.

"No, we will be playing something else entirely." Wayne looked at Cordelia, giving her a cunning smile. "Have either of you played Earth Amulet?"

Chrom raised his hand. "Is that some kind of card game from Chon'sin?"

"It's a board game," Cordelia answered. "And I've played it before. It was with our butler, Asugi. You know the one. Orange hair, green eyes, likes sugar, kinda filthy?"

"Oh yeah, I've seen him around the palace a few times," Chrom said. "I like him, he gives me cookies."

"How about this?" Wayne said. "If you win, not only will I give you the information you seek, but I will also personally join you all. I've heard that the Prince of Ylisse leads a small band of mercenaries. In addition to being a skilled writer, I also happen to be an expert archer." Wayne flared his hand towards them, rolling it twice as he made a practiced, elaborate bow. "I'll give you one final moment to consider the deal."

The two of them turned away from Wayne, whispering back to one another.

"That is beginning to sound like a good deal, really," Chrom said. "But I don't know if we should do this, Cordie."

"It's risky, I know," she said. "But we need that information. We don't know what we'll be up against in the tournament. All that we do know is that Lon'qu was a swordmaster who managed to take out Raimi."

"But is this really worth what we might have to give up, though?"

She put both her hands on his shoulders, looking him in those pretty eyes of his. "I would think it is. Remember, we need to do everything in our power to get aid from the Khans. That's why we're here in the first place. We can't afford to lose this tournament or else we might not get the Feroxi to help us." Cordelia turned back to Wayne, who flicked his hair again as he gave a wink to the both of them. "And, admittedly, I'm not sure if I like the guy, but we don't have an archer in the Shepherds, either." She turned back to him. "Let's face it, Chrom. If we're going to win this war, then we need all the help we can get, even if it's risky."

Chrom lowered his eyes, staring at tbe ground. "You're right, but everyone's gonna know what I look like naked if we lose."

Cordelia snickered, giving him a sly grin as she patted his cheek. "Think of it this way, if you win, then no one will see the picture, and if you lose, then everyone will know that your ass is hot."

"Well, I guess you do make sense," he said. "Alright, I'll do it."

She nodded. "Okay."

Chrom turned to face Wayne, before turning back to her, squinting. "Wait, did you just say my ass is hot?"

She blinked, putting two fingers to her eyebrow as she realized she let that slip. "I uhh, meant the picture," she said with tight lips. It was the only thing she could think of saying.

"Isn't that just like you calling me—"

_Drunk Cordie, you need to stay away from that conversation._

Cordelia listened to that part of her brain and immediately slammed on the table as a diversion. "Alright Wayne! I'll wager my prince's nudes for your info and for your abilities!" she shouted deliberately, and though it may have attracted attention, she prayed to Naga that it was enough and that Chrom was drunk enough that he wouldn't think about what she said any further.

"Excellent, then let us have a fair duel. Do we all know how to play?" Wayne asked.

Chrom raised his hand up. "Wait, can you explain the rules to me?"

Cordelia felt as if every single being in the world came together just to bless her at this very moment.

"It's simple," Wayne said. "Each team has ten units, alongside one extra which is known as the lord unit. The first lord who gets defeated is declared the loser. We each have 2 minutes per turn."

"Okay, simple enough," Chrom said. Wayne pulled out the board game from his bag, setting the box and pieces on the table. He insisted that they picked first, since he was the one who challenged them. Chrom picked up one of the character pieces and noticed that it was a sprite-sized representation of Matthew of Elibe, small enough to occupy one square on the game map.

"Hey, are these characters based off people from all those old stories?" Chrom asked.

"Indeed," Wayne said, "The legends of history have been turned into these miniature figurines for our amusement. Now, I will wait for you two to pick your units."

Chrom huddled close to Cordelia. "Who are we taking?" he asked, whispering so that their opponent couldn't overhear their strategy.

"Well we're taking Seth, first of all," she said, picking up the paladin.

"Oh, yeah he's too good not to use. How about Orsin?"

"Hmm… but the Pugi only has fifteen durability in this edition of the game. When I played it the first time, it used to have fifty. We'll bench him for now."

He put his hand on his chin. "Thirty-five less durability sounds like a massive nerf. Was the Pugi too overpowered?"

She nodded quickly. "Oh, definitely. How about Sain and Hector?" she asked.

"Ooh, I like them, but let's keep looking."

"What about Claud?"

He shrugged. "The Wyvern Rider or the Bishop?"

"The Bishop, he can revive everyone if we keep him alive..."

After much back and forth, the two of them settled on four paladins, two wyvern riders and two heros alongside a summoner, bishop and valkyrie.

"We're ready," Chrom said.

"Excellent!" Wayne said. The game began, the two of them playing as one against their opponent. Taking the first turn, Cordelia moved Finn and Seth first, with Finn taking control of the fortress in the center of the map and Seth in range to attack anyone who came into range. Chrom then moved Knoll and Narcian just outside the range of Wayne's Wolt's ballista, ready to attack the moment he fell.

"Interesting moves, but they won't be enough to save you," Wayne said. He moved his Kaze, Lex and Niles pieces to the river on the left, seeking to flank their Claud and Claude on the next turn. He then attacked Seth with his Hector and Pent, taking him out when he had missed his attack on Hector twice.

"Damn it," Chrom said, clenching his teeth. "He wasn't supposed to die so soon." Now at a major disadvantage, the three of them continued to play until they were down to three units against his six. Wayne sacrificed his Lex and Niles to take down Claude, letting Kaze finish off Claud before sending in half his remaining units past the river to defeat Knoll, Narcian and two of their other units while only losing three of his own. The only units they had left were Finn, Ike and L'arachel, of which L'arachel was their lord unit.

"Things aren't looking bright for the two of you," Wayne said, sipping his wine triumphantly. "I believe I'll be taking my reward very soon."

Cordelia squinted at him. "Don't think it's over yet. I won't lose easily." She sent Finn to rescue Ike, keeping the both of them out of attack range while healing Finn with L'arachel. Now Wayne's Hector would be unable to kill their Finn without dying to his armorslayer, forcing him to use his own lord unit, Joshua, to take them down.

"Are you sure we should keep him on the fort, Cordelia?" Chrom said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "His Joshua has a thirty-percent chance to crit right now, and a seventy to hit, and he can attack twice. If we lose him, it's over on the next turn."

She closed her eyes before taking one last look at the board. "I'm sure of it. This is the best shot we have." For Finn to die, he needed to be critically hit twice in a row, which had a very low chance of actually occurring. By comparison, Finn was almost certain to hit during their retaliation. That would force him to rescue his Lord to safety with either Hector or a Rescue staff user, which would buy them an extra turn to even the odds.

"Well, there's no time to take back your decisions. Now it's my turn." Wayne moved Joshua into attack range, betting on finishing him off Finn in one round. Joshua did not, however, succeed the accuracy check, causing him to miss the attack entirely.

"No way!" Wayne's eyes widened before narrowing back down. "This is fine, I still have another way to defeat—"

"Oh my gods, we won!" Cordelia cheered.

"Hell yes!" Chrom said.

"Huh!?" Wayne said, baffled. He lowered his eyes to the dice she rolled, flaring them when he read the number on her critical-hit die. She had scored a one-percent crit, an extremely lucky roll on all accounts. "A one-percent crit?! Unbelievable!"

Cordelia finished the game, drinking more wine and tipping over his lord piece with her finger. She giggled happily, wrapping her arms tightly around Chrom's waist and nuzzling his shoulder. It was definitely because she was drunk that she was able to hug him like this, but frankly she didn't mind. And he didn't seem to, either, judging by how tight he wrapped his own arms around her. She wanted this, and she just wanted to enjoy it as much as she could in the moment, no matter how fleeting.

"So, Wayne, you'll tell us everything, right?" Chrom said, turning to the defeated man. Wayne lowered his head as he grunted, when a wide grin formed on his face. He let out a small chuckle without opening his mouth, picking his head back up immediately.

"Of course I would, I'm a man of my word," Wayne said. He moved towards them, stretching his hand out and shaking both of theirs. "A deal is a deal."


	7. The Od Swordsman

_March 10_ ,

"Urgghh…" Cordelia woke up with a groan. Did she bash her head into a wall or something? Her head was ringing with a nasty headache. She got out of bed, heading over to the bathroom where she saw herself in the mirror.

Gods, she looked terrible. Her dress was all crinkled, and there was a small yet noticeable wine stain at the ends. Her bedhead was even messier than it normally got, and the way she was hunched over reminded her of some kind of zombie or something. Just what was she doing last night?

Oh right, she was with Chrom. Just remembering the date was enough to make her blush. Except it wasn't a date, she corrected herself. Chrom only wanted to hang out, and nothing else. Still, a small and self indulgent part of her did want to call it a date after all, even if that wasn't the best idea.

She really did enjoy spending her time with him, and things went better than she had hoped for once. And stranger than she expected, too. She never thought her first ever date-but-not-really would involve drunken gambling, or for said gambling to involve certain pictures of Chrom.

Speaking of which, she opened her purse, cheekily giggling over the fact she still had it. She immediately hid it in her room, making sure no one could find it.

But now their break was over, so things had to go back to normal. That meant she'd probably be anxious around Chrom again. But she couldn't worry about that, because now was time to focus on the present. Today was the day they'd be fighting in the tournament. Chrom, Emmeryn and everyone else were counting on the Shepherds to win this. The legendary pegasus knight Caeda could not afford to make a mistake, and neither could she. Today would need to be flawless.

Actually, the messy bedhead was a little cute now that she looked at it for a while. Still, she needed to get herself ready for today. She cleaned herself up, switching into her usual clothes that were better suited to fighting. She then grabbed her training sword, heading out to practice before it was time to leave.

* * *

The sky was starting to show the darker colors of the evening as Marth walked together with Reflet to the domed building they visited yesterday. That dome was in fact the Arena Ferox. It was where the Feroxi hosted the biggest events in the country.

"There's so many people out here today," Reflet looked around, watching all the people passing by as they made their way to the building. She tapped on the middle of her ear, turning to him.

"You're right, there is," he replied. The streets were bustling today, it looked like people from all around the world had gathered to watch this tournament. Doorbells rang as people went in and out of shops. The voices in the crowds echoed as mindless noise, cancelling one another out. Stalls had all lined themselves up alongside the market road, selling various foods and trinkets to those who had come to see the tournament.

"I've never seen such an event as large as this before," he said. "But we're not here to enjoy the festivities."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Reflet said. "Still, I think I'd like to go here when we're not in the tournament."

They continued walking until they happened to spot Anna up ahead in her red cloak and matching beret. She was situated behind a small stall with a bonfire behind it which she was using to roast meat with.

"Reflet! Marth! Welcome!" Anna said, waving at them.

"Hello, Anna," he said as they approached her.

"What are you cooking?" Reflet said, leaning closer to the bonfire.

"Meat skewers, want a sample? They're not free, but for you two, half off," Anna said, giving them a wink.

"Ooh, what kind of meat are they?" Reflet asked, taking a whiff of the food. "They smell so good…"

"Bear meat!" Anna said.

"Ooh! Ooh!" Reflet turned to Marth, bouncing up and down. "Can I get one? No wait, two! No, three! Three! Please, Marth, can I have three?"

Marth shook his head. "You should not be eating so much before a fight. Unless you wish It would upset your stomach and would make it difficult to move around without wishing to vomit." He raised up a finger, paying for it and passing it to her.

Reflet pouted, pulling on the sides of her hair and pressing on her cheeks. "Myaargh, my tummy can take more than one!"

"No, Reflet." Marth narrowed his eyebrows at her. "You're rather childish, you know that? I swear, I don't think any of my friends are this childish."

"Well, we're not fighting yet…" Reflet frowned at him, though quickly returned to a neutral expression. "You're right, the most important thing is that we win this. I'll try to focus for now."

"That would be wise," he said.

"Well, since you guys already paid for the meat, the least you could do is enjoy yourselves," Anna said, raising her hands up. "The tournament doesn't start for a while, so you two don't have to worry."

"Alright." Reflet nodded, taking her first bite. "Mmmm, so delicioussh…" She squealed in delight, putting a hand on her cheek as she nibbled down again. "Aren't you gonna eat, Marth?"

Marth looked down at her food, making his own stomach growl. "Well, I suppose there's no harm in simply eating one right now."

Reflet leaned closer, looking up at him with a beaming smile. "Please?" she said, bringing her hands just above her chest. Her purple eyes were practically sparkling. It was almost as if they were asking him directly to share a meal with her. Staring into them reminded him of a twilight sky, one lit up by the stars that shone in the night.

"Alright then, but only one," he said as he bought another for himself. The moment he bit into it, he found himself immediately overwhelmed as the wondrous flavors hit his tongue. A tiny squeak escaped his lips as he bit into more of his meal, eager to eat.

"What happened, Marth?" Reflet asked.

"Umm," he said, "It's merely nothing. I felt nothing as I was eating this." He didn't want anyone to know he had made that noise.

"Hey! Are you saying my cooking isn't delicious?" Anna said, playing with two coins between her fingers. "Watch out, because that's how you lose your half-off privileges."

"Wait!" he said, reaching his hand out. "No, please don't do that! I meant that I hadn't been the one who squeaked! Your food is very delicious!"

"Yay!" Reflet cheered, her bouncing even quicker and tinier than before. "I knew you'd love it!"

"See?" Anna said with a smirk. "That's what I wanna hear. I paid good money for my supplies and my skills are top-notch. You are forgiven."

He let out a deep breath. "Thank you." The last time he lost his half-off privileges his father had to jump through hoops just to get them back. Anna turned it into an entire event, charging 1500 Yinny for the entrance fee. Grateful that that wasn't the case today, he bit into his food, delighting in it once again. It was so sweet and salty, with a hint of spiciness to it thanks to Anna.

"Oh, this food really is so wonderful," he said, unable to hold back his smile. "I have not had bear meat in quite some time. I truly do miss it."

Reflet looked at him, shocked. "You haven't? Why?"

"They had banned the consumption of bears in my home. It has been about eleven or so years since."

Reflet made a tiny gasp. "Why would they do such a thing?"

"You see, the population had declined so severely that we could not afford to hunt the ones who remained. They would've gone extinct, not a single bear would have remained."

"Oh, that sounds terrible, actually. I wouldn't eat bears in that case, too." Reflet frowned as she looked down at her food. "Still, they're super good…" she said, licking her lips in a guilty manner.

"She's got that right, even I wouldn't touch a bear in that scenario," Anna said. "Say, I'm curious, what place did you live in?"

"Err, I can't recall the name," he said, coughing into his sleeve. "It was such a long time ago. If I remember, I'll be sure to mention it." He can't just come out and say where he was born, or rather, when. That would bring him more trouble than he needed.

"Alright then," Anna said. "Anyways, you should get going, you got a tournament to go to!

"That's correct. Thank you for the meal. Good day, Anna." Marth bowed to her, heading off with Reflet who was nibbling on the last of her meal.

"Good luck! I got front row seats!" She waved them off, greeting the next customer who had arrived. The two of them continued to walk, reaching the entrance of the Arena Ferox.

* * *

Chrom arrived at the front entrance of the arena where the other Shepherds stood, having gathered today to fight.

"I didn't expect so many people to be here today," Cordelia said, looking towards the crowds that formed around them.

"Yeah, me neither," he said. "But it does make sense, seeing as this tournament decides how Ferox will be ruled for the next three years. It must be a really important event to the Feroxi, and tournaments are always fun to watch."

"Well it's a good thing they're here. All these people means more people can see the Vaike!" Vaike said, striking a pose at the crowds. If there was one thing he liked about Vaike the most, it'd probably be whatever comes out of his mouth.

"If boasting could kill, you would've already killed everyone in Ylisse," Cordelia said.

"Hell yeah I would!" He grinned, shrugging the comment off. "And you know these boasts aren't just for show. It's gonna be us who'll win this, cause I'm here to carry our backs!"

"Good, then can you carry my things, too?" Cordelia said, dumping her bag into his arms.

"Heh, like I wouldn't?" Vaike scoffed, holstering the bag onto his back. "This is just extra training!"

Chrom chuckled. "Well, it's good that you're all excited, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. If we get too overconfident, we could end up underestimating our opponents."

"I wonder what the other team will look like," Kellam said.

"Right Kellam, me too." He still couldn't believe he didn't notice him earlier. It was just so easy to miss him even when he wore his knight armor.

"Hey Chrom!" he heard Liz say. He turned to his right, seeing her heading their way with Donny and Freddy behind her.

"Liz! Donny! ...Frederick," he said, scrunching his brows when he said his name aloud. He was still a bit mad at him for the poster. But seeing as Freddy had only shown him it and had sent Cordie to throw it away afterwards, he held no real ill will. He loved his family and could never stay mad at them for long, despite the crap they've pulled off.

"So, what are you all doing?" he asked them.

"We came to wish you all good luck!" Liz said.

"Yeah! You all got this!" Donny said, fist bumping Vaike.

"You know it!" Vaike said.

"Good luck," Freddy said. "We will be watching you all from the side."The three of them headed inside as Chrom waved them off. It was nice that they came just to wish them good luck.

"Alright, let's go inside now," he said. The six of them made their way inside the building, which was much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Torches lit the entire ground floor, providing more than enough light even though the day was getting darker. A staircase up ahead descended downwards, leading underground to the main area where the arena was situated. It was even more crowded inside than it was outside. Feroxi guards had been posted all around the building, ensuring that no one would be able to trespass into closed off sections of the arena, such as the room leading to the top of the building for when repairs were necessary. They continued to walk until they reached a big blue door, where Flavia stood in front.

"Ah, so this is what my team will look like? Damn, I expected better than these losers." She chuckled, offering him her hand. "It's only a joke." She was wearing a more regal version of her outfit from earlier. Her arms and legs were covered in white and red armor, and she wore a flexible-looking shield that covered the entirety of one of her hands. While she was already impressive before, now she really did have the look of a warrior-king.

He took her hand, shaking it as he smiled back. "We won't be losing anything tonight, Flavia. We're going to win this for both our countries."

Flavia nodded. "I sure hope so. You all are representing me as my champions. I wish to show my people that I am more than capable of ruling our country, so do your best out there and win for me." She pointed to the door behind her. "Now, this will lead to the main arena up ahead. Here you may change your equipment before the tournament officially begins."

"Thank you so much, Flavia," he said.

"Of course, it would not do me well to treat the guests in my country poorly. Now be on your way, I want to witness what all of you can do out there."

* * *

The inside of the room was not much to look at. It just was a long hallway for relative privacy. Chrom put his bag down on the first table he could find and dumped everything out of it. Out dropped an elixir, an extra set of clothes, and his old rapier. He put his clothes and the elixir back inside, not having a use for either. As for his rapier, he picked it up, eyeing it.

"Hmm…" It's been a while since he last used his rapier. While it was a nice blade, it hardly compared to the Queensfang. Putting the two together made the rapier look like a stick a kid would swing around while pretending it's a real sword. Queensfang would be that real sword.

Maybe someone else could use it, though. He looked around, trying to find someone to give it too. Though he couldn't think of anyone who'd want it. Vaike and Kellam didn't fight with swords, Marth seemed to be comfortable with his own weapon, and Reflet fought with magic. That left Cordie as the one who could most likely find a use for it.

"Hey Cordie, do you want my stick?" he said.

"Excuse me, what?!" Cordie turned to him, looking at him with wide eyes and red cheeks.

"My stick! My rapier!" He waved his blade around, dangling it in front of her eyes. "Do you wanna grab it with both your hands?"

"Oh, I thought I heard—" Cordie cut herself off, letting out a sigh. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter what I heard." She shook her head, smiling as she set aside her own sword and took his stick from him. "Thank you very much, Chrom. I'll be sure to treasure it."

Chrom frowned when she turned away. He had hoped she still wouldn't be so anxious around him after last night, but at least she looked more comfortable than before.

The door they entered opened behind them as a man walked inside. It was Wayne, the man from last night.

"Of course, you're…" Marth said as he turned to Wayne, trailing off.

"You know him, Marth?" Chrom said.

"Huh?" Marth stammered, shaking his head quickly. "No, I do not. Forgive me, I was mistaken."

"Hmm, alright then," Chrom said. "So Wayne, if you're here, then you're also partaking in the tournament?"

"That is correct," Wayne said. "I had signed up long before the tournament was to begin."

That's right, he remembered seeing his name on the sheet earlier. "Why so long in advance?" he asked.

"The merit of winning the tournament was enough of a reason for me to enter," he said. "So it seems that everyone is now present? Excellent, that means it is time for me to tell you all that I know of our opponents."

"Good. Let's hope that whatever we learn we can use to beat them," Chrom said.

"First, our opponents today will be the West-Khan's royal guards," Wayne said. "They have been chosen by the Khan's own hand to represent their country, and I'm told they're rather impressive fighters. Yet, those are not the ones we need to worry about. Amongst their ranks are two swordfighters, a man named Lon'qu and a woman named Olivia. Both of them will prove to be tough opponents, but it is Lon'qu who is the biggest threat."

"Alright, so tell us about Lon'qu. Who is he?" he said.

"Admittedly, there is little information as to who he is, outside of his name and his country of origin, Chon'sin. However, it is rumored that he is next in line to take the throne for West Ferox. If true, then a man like that must have some incredible talents for the khan to acknowledge him as his heir."

Chrom crossed his arms. "Well it's clear that he's skilled, but we already expected that. I was hoping we'd learn about what he can do, not who he is. It feels like we gambled away our stuff for nothing."

"You did not gamble for nothing," Wayne said sharply. "I've yet to mention the other important things about him. Such as the sword he wields, for example."

"Okay, so what's so special about his sword?" Vaike asked, resting his axe on his shoulder and pointing to Chrom. "Can't be more special than this guy's weapon. Have you ever seen a sword light on fire?"

"On occasion," Wayne said. "The main character of my book uses a sword which can set itself ablaze, as well."

"Ooh, he does?" Chrom said. "Now I have to read your book."

"We should focus on the topic at hand," Cordie said. "Tell us more about his blade."

"Right," Chrom said.

"Very well," Wayne said. "The blade itself is apparently one of the most powerful weapons in the country, perhaps the whole world. Those who have seen it have said that it is unlike any other weapon any of them have come across. But its power is not merely the only thing notable about the weapon. It is also rumored to have an ability tied to it, an ability known as Astra."

"So what does it do?" Chrom asked.

"I'm not exactly certain. There have been few people who have witnessed him use the ability, and I have found none who have examined the maneuver in detail. I'd suspect that he uses it as some form of last resort or secret weapon," Wayne said, shaking his head. "Yet what is known is that once he uses the ability, his body will begin to glow a dark shade of green light. Those who have seen it also claim that his strikes become even faster than lightning. And some have claimed even so far that they were able to see him cloning himself at one point."

Chrom put a finger between his lips. "So we've got a swordsman who can clone himself… "

"Be warned, he may have other tricks up his sleeve," he added. "Do watch yourselves."

"Thanks for the warning. We'll have to watch out for him, certainly." That certainly sounded like a strange and unique ability. He'd have to make sure to watch out for it in the upcoming battle.

A servant knocked on the door they entered from, coming inside. "Excuse me? Please step out into the main arena, the battle will begin shortly."

"Okay everyone, let's go," Chrom said.

* * *

Heading out the main door, the seven of them entered a dark corridor that stretched out to the main stadium for the event. Stepping into the light, Chrom shielded his eyes from all the bright torches that lit every inch of the arena. Uncovering them, he was shocked at just how many people were watching the event. There were easily hundreds of people—no, perhaps a thousand or more in the arena, lined up in rows one atop the other with their roars echoing loudly all the way down to where he was in the center. The Earth King's Tournament really was such a gigantic event. Right behind their exit, he spotted Liz and the other Shepherds, who cheered them on as they made their way forward to the raised platform up ahead.

"Let's get ready for this," he said.

"Yeah!" Vaike cheered. "Let's win this! Go Iris! Go Flavia!" He started rushing towards the stadium, eager to get to battle.

Chrom smiled. "Let's follow his example! Come on everyone!" He rushed after Vaike, hoping to beat him up the steps. A few Shepherds had followed after him, though some others had taken their time walking instead. He reached the top of the steps, taking a glance at the layout of the stadium. The first thing he noticed was that the arena was large, with enough space for long-ranged attacks. There was no cover to protect them, so they only had their armor and their skills to rely on. Set within the center of the arena in brown marble tiles was a grand design of a sun, encircled by several spiraling waves.

Standing in the center was Flavia, alongside another man he had yet to meet. He was easily six feet and the biggest and strongest man in the room. On his left eye was a black-eyepatch, most likely worn after losing it in battle. Resting underneath his hands was a giant, heavy looking battle-axe with a unique design. It was made of a dark, brown metal, with jagged edges on one side that reminded him of the edge of a sharp cliff.

Chrom narrowed his eyes as he took a closer look at the man. _Hmm, Reflet wasn't too far off with her guess._ Once they had reached the two, Flavia began to shout to the crowd surrounding them.

"People of Ferox! Today we bring you the Earth King's Tournament!" Flavia announced to a torrent of cheering fans. "This tournament will decide who shall rule our kingdom, and who shall bend the knee! Will it be me, the East-Khan? Or Basilio, the West Khan? I think you all know who will be the victor!" She raised a fist in the air, making the crowd cheer even louder for her. She then turned to the man next to her, giving him a coy smirk.

"So, oaf, how'd I do?" she asked.

The man waved his hand at her. "Bah, I've heard worse speeches."

"Oh really? From who?"

"Your mom for one," he said.

Flavia rolled her eyes. "Hello there my allies. Ignore the crusty old ass over there, he'll be dead in a week."

"Aye, my name is Basilio," he said, offering Chrom a handshake. "And this piece of shit made you all her champions? Good luck, you'll need it." He laughed, pointing at Flavia who rolled her eyes once again.

As the two of them got off the stage, another set of seven other people walked up from the other side of the arena, Basilio's team. In the center was a swordmaster in a blue outfit, Lon'qu, and right beside him was a pink haired swordswoman in a similar yet simpler outfit, Olivia.

The rival leader walked up to Chrom, staring him in the eyes as he did the same.

"So, you're Lon'qu." Chrom said. He was taller than him, with dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. His coat was lined with fur to protect him from the cold and tied securely with a red sash. On his holster was not one but rather two swords, both of which were sheathed. Thus, he wouldn't know which was the sword he needed to watch out for.

"Let's just fight," Lon'qu said. The glare he gave him was icy and stoic, even more stoic than Marth's. He returned to his side of the arena, not uttering another word.

Each second felt like forever as Chrom waited for the match to begin. This was it. If they win this then they'd get the aid they needed to even stand a chance against Plegia. He held onto the end of his blade, ready to do his part for the sake of his country's future.

The earth itself began to rumble. Feroxi mages started collectively casting Earth spells just outside the main arena, making the earth shake and crash as it rumbled within the entire building.

"Go!" he said. He drew his blade now that the signal was given, rushing straight for their leader while his team went after the others. Lon'qu shared the same idea as him, dashing towards him before their blades clashed with each other, the metal clanging in his ear. They found themselves locked within a bind, neither of them being able to overtake the other. Chrom took note of the blade in his opponent's hands. It was a sharp, curved white blade, one with a red hilt. It looked vicious, sure, but Chrom couldn't help but feel disappointed. It didn't feel or look more powerful than most of the weapons he's clashed with before, but that didn't stop it from being dangerous in his opponents hands.

"Show me your strength!" Lon'qu shouted, standing his ground as he put more pressure behind his blade. He raised his hilt upwards, inching his blade closer and closer to Chrom's chest. Chrom leaned backwards, struggling to keep the blade off of him.

"Chrom! I got your back!"

"Vaike!" he said through his teeth, recognizing his friend's voice. Vaike charged in with a wild swing of his axe aimed at Lon'qu, only for him to dodge backwards with a jump, rushing back in and countering Vaike with a punch to the gut after landing.

"Urg-!" Vaike groaned, coughing violently. He fought back with a punch to the face, only for Lon'qu to block the hit with his elbow. Lon'qu grunted as he slid backwards, backing away from them as he steadied himself on the floor. He sheathed his sword and clenched his teeth, before tightly gripping the hilt of his sword as he prepared to draw it.

Vaike straightened his back, eyeing Lon'qu down with a vicious scowl. "I just met the bastard, but I already hate his guts. He's got that smug-ass face I don't like."

"Let's rush him from the sides," Chrom told him.

"Alright," Vaike said. Together they charged at him with a shout, lunging at him only for him to jump backwards, dodging their blades entirely.

"Now!" He drew his blade from his sheath with the speed of a bolt of lightning, cutting Vaike in the cheek before he even touched the ground. He smirked, wiping the blood off his blade before readying it with both hands.

"Damn it!" Vaike cursed, looking at his now damaged cheek. "Alright you smartass! I'm gonna beat you into next week!" He punched his own knuckles, then wiped the blood off his cheek with his thumb. "Chrom, you got an idea?"

Chrom shook his head. "I don't know. This guy's too fast. It'll be hard to land a hit."

"Gahh, what if we—"

Vaike was cut off when an arrow suddenly flew between both their heads, taking them by surprise. It shot straight towards Lon'qu, who dodged it with only a second left on the clock. Lon'qu narrowed his eyes, setting his sight on his attacker.

"Thank goodness that the archest of archers was here to lend you his aid. Otherwise, this could go much more poorly," Wayne said as he walked up from behind them, readying another arrow to fire from his silver-colored bow in hand. "You two, continue to press the attack. I'll provide cover." He stepped to the right of them, firing off an arrow once again. Lon'qu dodged again, yet Wayne kept firing, hurling arrow after arrow. Chrom seized the opportunity to dash at his opponent, forcing Lon'qu to defend with his blade. The moment their blade made contact, Wayne fired another arrow off, striking Lon'qu in the shoulder.

"Ghh-!" Lon'qu grunted as he backed off. He gave a death stare to Wayne, shooting straight towards him with his sword raised before Chrom even had a chance to do anything about it.

"Wahh, help!" Wayne began to panic, raising his bow upwards to defend his body.

"Go down!" Lon'qu said as he swung downwards, only to freeze just before the blade made contact with Wayne.

"Huh?" Wayne said, his eyes wide in shock. One of Lon'qu's hands was being held in place by a tan man's arm, saving the archer from a cut on his nose.

"You're pretty good, you know that? You jerk," Vaike said, crushing Lon'qu's hand and making him drop his weapon. "Time for some payback!" He rammed him in the stomach with his fist, forcing him to his knees. He then grabbed him by the coat, lifting him up before delivering a heavy swing to his chin, sending him flying backwards.

"Kah!" Lon'qu cried out as he fell to the ground. He landed on his hands, kicking Vaike in the chin before rolling forward, getting back on his feet. He turned back to him, panting with every other breath yet still able to keep going.

"Damnit!" Vaike cursed, stumbling backwards before catching himself before he lost his balance.

Lon'qu wiped the blood off his cheek, sneering at Vaike. "Face me alone," he said, picking his blade off the ground.

"You against me?" Vaike scoffed at him, scowling back. "Sure. You two, make sure you guys don't interfere. One of us is going to be the first to go down, and it ain't gonna be me tonight."

* * *

Vaike hated this guy. He was way faster than him, and had better reflexes than him. Faster he could understand, because Vaike himself was much bigger than the average fighter, but he would think his own reflexes were nothing to sneeze at. So for someone to give him this much trouble, who wasn't named Chrom…

Well, that just irritated Vaike to no end.

"You two, go find others to help out, I'm taking him on alone," he said. The others nodded, leaving to take on other fighters. One thing was for certain tonight. He'd beat the hell out of this man, no matter what it took him.

"So how should we do this, with our blades?" he said, before raising his fists. "Or the old fashioned way?"

This bastard said nothing to him, raising his sword up while continuing to stare him down.

Gah, Vaike hated how little this man talked. How is he supposed to size up their opponent if they don't say anything? Either way, he couldn't think about that much longer. Vaike holstered his axe as he charged straight ahead, this time waiting just a moment to fake the guy out. The moment the bastard swung at him, he pulled out of the rush, grappling the bastard's arm with his own free hand.

"What the—?" the bastard said, making Vaike laugh. He finally got a rise out of him.

"Bingo!" Vaike struck at his shoulder with the hardest blow he could make, then headbutted the bastard before bashing him in the chest once more. The bastard was sent backwards, yet he still managed to land a cut on Vaike's own arm as he took the hit.

"Hmph," the smug bastard said as he readied himself, staring Vaike in the eyes. Vaike knew that look, it was the look of someone who wanted to win this duel as much as he did.

As calm as he was on the surface, a fire was raging inside him.

"Well! Go on then! Bring it!" he shouted, flaring his hands outwards before hitting hard on his chest. "You wanted a one-on-one, right? Now you got one!"

The bastard growled, shooting straight for him even faster now. Vaike threw both his fists forward, trying to crash the both of them on the asshole. Yet he ducked underneath at the last moment, thrusting his blade upwards as he scratched him once again in the cheek.

"Hey!" he shouted. "I have to make sure this face stays pretty, asshol—!"

The jerk cut him off before he could finish, punching him in the chin and sending him back to the floor.

"You motherfucker, I was talking!" Vaike picked himself up and headbutted the man in the head before he could back away. The man grunted as he took the hit, throwing another punch back as Vaike threw one more at him. Their blows struck each other in the head at the same time, knocking each other down once again. Vaike was startin' to feel dizzy now. He was taking plenty of blows, but he sure as hell gave plenty back. Slowly, he pulled himself back on his knees, seeing his opponent still down on the floor.

"Good," he said with a chuckle in his breath. The jerk slowly got back up, backing away from him as he clutched his head in pain. He panted before taking a deep breath and exhaling, steadying himself on his feet.

"Enough," he said. "Let's finish this now."

"What's that? You're tired already?" Vaike snarled. "Hmph, so am I."

In response, the man put his blade back inside his sheath, before pulling out the other sword he had on him.

"So what's with the change in weapons?" Vaike said. The blade he grabbed reminded him of Chrom's own, yet was definitely different. Slender, longer, though he didn't pay too much attention to how it looked. All that mattered was the fact he switched from the first sword to the second.

The jerk gave the new blade a spinnin' around, gripping it tightly as he raised it towards him. "I can't afford to lose today. And you're someone I need to beat."

 _Heh, that might've been the most he's talked today._ Vaike chuckled as he took another look at the sword in the bastard's hands. Judging from what the fancy shirt guy said earlier, this was probably the weapon he was talking about, the one with those magic-like powers.

"It doesn't matter what you've got under your sleeve," Vaike said. "I'm going to bring you to the floor." He raised his right fist upwards, shielding his chest with his other. "Go ahead, make my day."

The jerk said nothing back to him, raising his blade instead. All of the sudden, however, his blade turned green, and then immediately after the bastard rushed at him the fastest he'd ever done yet. Within a blink, he was already right in front of Vaike, taking him completely by surprise.

"Damn!" Vaike said. He wasn't expecting this kind of speed. It was like he disappeared and reappeared, like he warped or something. Now the bastard had his sword aimed at his chest, and this time he couldn't do anything else but defend himself from the full blow.

"Astra!" the bastard shouted as he struck him in his chest. He then gave him four more blows, sending him flying into the air with one painful uppercut. Vaike's head rang as he screamed in pain from his injuries. Still, even with this pain, he never intended to go down without leaving the bastard something to remember him by.

"GAHH!" the bastard screamed. Vaike felt proud of himself for making him do that. The moment he got sent backwards, he managed to throw his axe at the bastard, landing a clean swing on the side of his chest.

"Hahaw, take that, you asshole…" Vaike laughed weakly as he hit the floor, lying there with a smile on his face. "At least Teach can say he didn't go down without a fight… Now it's up to you, Chrom. I know you'll finish this off…"

He got what he wanted, but… damn, he really lost this, didn't he? He couldn't keep fighting anymore. He felt his body weakening, and he lacked the strength to keep going. Vaike closed his eyes, regretting that he was the first to go down.

* * *

Chrom watched Vaike collapse to the ground, lying there unconscious. A soft white glow surrounded him, and then he immediately faded away in a flash of light. Chrom turned back where they entered from, finding him now in the hands of two healers who were taking him away. They had Rescued him away with magic. Chrom nodded at his unconscious friend. Even though Vaike was the first to go down, he still gave it his all. Now it was his turn to fight and finish what Vaike could not.

Chrom turned back to Lon'qu, sizing him up. He was completely covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises, and had wrapped his sash around the wide slash Vaike left on him. Even though he was clearly in pain, his expression remained calm and collected, treating his injuries as if they didn't exist. His opponent looked back at him, raising his blade to the same level as his head.

There was something about that sword that started picking at Chrom's brain. The blade was a dark black, contrasting the gold and white-silver edges of the hilt, in the center of which was a dark-red gem that reminded him of an eye. It reminded him a lot of his own Queensfang, and he was certain he'd seen it before. What was it? Ba… Bal—

Chrom was pulled out of his thoughts when his opponent lunged at him like a lightning bolt. He reflexively raised his blade, clashing once again with his opponent's. The metal—so to speak— of his Queensfang screeched loudly as it tried to push back against the other swordsman's blade.

"You're next!" Lon'qu said.

"Where did you get that?" Chrom said as he pushed back against his opponent. This time he was the one to successfully break the clash, knocking his opponent backwards and making him lose balance. Now he was on the offensive. He threw his sword into the air, shooting after it.

"Aether!" He said as he caught the blade in midair, performing three frontflips before crashing downwards at the swordsman who struggled to defend with his own blade. Their blades loudly rang in his ears as they clashed, jostling Chrom's memory. He gasped, remembering the name of the weapon that the man was using.

"Tell me," Chrom said. "Who gave you the Balmung?"

Lon'qu gave him no answer, pressing back with a flurry of strikes. Chrom blocked each of them, locking blades with the last. Despite the situation he was in, his mind wandered back to his opponent's blade. There was no mistaking the fact that blade was the very same one from Jugdrali Holy War from so long ago. As to how it came into his hands, that was beyond Chrom's knowledge.

Before he could press for more info, footsteps rushed in from behind. He jumped to the side at the last second, narrowly avoiding a slash to the back by a sword he caught the presence of.

"Olivia!" Lon'qu shouted, kicking backwards to distance himself from him.

"Lon'qu!" said the one who tried to strike at him. "We need to finish this quickly!" Chrom turned around to see the pink-haired swordswoman he saw at the beginning of the fight. She looked at him with her sword raised. It shook as she quivered in front of him, yet she held one of the most fierce looks of resolve on her face he'd ever seen.

"You're right." Lon'qu nodded at her as the two of them rushed at him, turning this into a two-on-one. This was bad. It had taken three of them to deal with Lon'qu at the beginning, and now he wa joined by another fighter? He might've been injured, sure, but that was outweighed by the number advantage alone. Chrom grit his teeth as Lon'qu swiped at his arm, barely dodging it as Olivia cut him in the leg. He winced, striking back at the girl only to be stopped by Lon'qu's blade. He struck back, bashing Chrom in the head with his fist and bringing him down to the ground.

Chrom found himself down on his knees, clutching his head as he struggled to get back up. He was getting his ass beat. Their teamwork was just so strong that he couldn't do a thing about it. Lon'qu started winding up his blade, ready to take him out with one final blow. He thrusted forward, only for his sword to miss him with the crashing sound of metal against metal. A long, silvery rapier came into view as a wave of red stepped in front of him, blocking Lon'qu's blade and shoving him backwards.

"Cordie!" he said, ecstatic to see her jumping in.

"I've got your back." She turned around, crouching as she gave him her hand. "Come on, let's get you back on your feet."

"Thanks for the save," he said. "I would've been a goner if it wasn't for you."

"Yeah, I saw you were in trouble, so I beat the guy I was fighting to get here as fast as I could." She looked away from him, playing with her hair. "Of course I'd come to save you."

"Aww, that's sweet of you," he said, "Thanks."

Cordie smiled at him, staring into his eyes like she did last night. "You're the one who's sweet…" She lingered on him for a moment before she turned away. "I mean, you're the one who's sweating. You're very sweaty, you know?" She put her hand on her head, shaking it. "I mean you look exhausted."

"I am?" Embarrassed, he hid his face behind his arm as he sniffed his armpit, frowning as he realized he was indeed very sweaty. "Aww, I am. Look, I need to take a bath later, okay?" he said quietly. "I've been fighting a lot…"

"Baths are fun," she said. "Well, uhh, we should get back to fighting then."

"Right, of course." He got his blade ready, turning back to their opponents. The two rushed at them, taking on Lon'qu first. Chrom faced him head on, forcing him to block to buy time for Cordie to wrap around him.

"Got you!" Cordie said as she slashed at his side, dodging out of the way of Olivia's hit as Chrom landed his own hit on him.

"Ghh!" Lon'qu grunted, swiping at Cordie only to be stopped by Chrom jumping in, catching the blade with his own. Even though it had been forever since they last fought in a pair like this, it still felt completely natural to fight alongside her again. He enjoyed it, he missed it, even.

Chrom rushed at Lon'qu once again but was taken off guard by Olivia, who slipped behind the two of them, aiming a thrust that he couldn't block. "Damn!" he said, struggling to twist himself out of the way.

"Not so fast!" Cordie shouted. A magical blast of wind fired off, shooting straight for his attacker before she could land her hit.

"Wah!" Olivia said. She barely managed to jump out of the way, getting her leg grazed by the edge of the bolt as she slipped by it.

"Woah!" Chrom turned around, seeing the green mist dissipating in Cordie's palm. "You can use wind magic? When did you learn it?"

"Yeah, umm, I picked it up when I was training to be a pegasus knight." She tilted her head to the side, scratching her cheek. "I asked Phila to train me in both healing and attacking magic. I thought they were too useful for me to not learn them."

"That's amazing!" His best friend really was a genius!

"Thanks," Cordie said, tilting her head up as a smile shone on her face.

"Are you two done?" Lon'qu crossed his arms, rolling his head back and forth. "Olivia, it's time. Get back."

"Alright, just be careful, Lon'qu," Olivia said, stepping away from them. "Are you sure you can fight them alone?"

"I'll be fine," Lon'qu said, readying himself once again.

"Good luck." Olivia left the fight, looking for other people to take on and leaving Lon'qu to a two-on-one. Immediately the swordmaster backed away from them, reaching his arm out towards them as he raised his sword to the air above. He then twisted it around, turning it so the blade pointed downwards to the ground below.

"What's he doing?" Cordie said.

"I don't know," Chrom said. While the thought of rushing at him before he could finish crossed his brain, he didn't know what Lon'qu was going to do. He gripped his sword, ready to dodge or fight at a moment's notice.

"Astra," Lon'qu said, and nothing more. His blade started to glow a dark, sagely green as an aura surged around him. It was the color of leaves in the night, flowing loosely around him like fire. The aura spanned everything within three feet of him, and seemed to be slowly but surely growing. He slashed his sword downwards, a sword which now had four partly-opaque copies trailing behind it.

"Let's end this!" He bolted at them with blinding speed. In just a few seconds he was already in front of Chrom, disarming him with the force of his blade's strike.

"Hey!" Chrom stumbled backwards as he was struck, catching sight of the four blurry copies tailing Lon'qu. They were just like the ones hovering behind the Balmung, but he hardly had time to think about that. Lon'qu lunged again at him, only for Cordie to block the attack, struggling to fend him off.

"Chrom, grab your sword!" she said.

"Right! Found it!" Chrom picked up his blade and swung at him, making him back off. Lon'qu dashed towards the right only to blast right back at him, swinging his sword once more.

Chrom clenched his teeth as he blocked just in time. "He's strong!" He pushed back, but it was as if, no, it _was_ the case that Lon'qu had suddenly received a spike in power. Lon'qu dug in his heels as he pressed forward, nearly overtaking Chrom once again.

"Aether!" Chrom shouted in retaliation. The Queensfang burst into flames, its heat and light blinding Lon'qu and forcing him to back off.

"Damn!" Lon'qu said, narrowing his eyes. He circled around the two of them, waiting to strike.

"Chrom, look around us!" Cordie said.

"Huh?" Chrom looked around to see three copies of him frozen in place. They were each made of the same aura that flowed off of Lon'qu, and each one was in a position that was as if they were dashing forward, ready to strike. Two of them were positioned north of them, while another was to their right.

"These clones, what are they going to do?" she said.

"I don't know, but be on guard." Looks like what Wayne said was true. Lon'qu really did have the power to clone himself. The two of them stood together, a kept eye on both Lon'qu and his clones.

"He's coming!" Cordie called out as Lon'qu rushed at them again. Chrom swung at him, yet instead of Lon'qu striking back, he slid underneath his blade, slicing the air next to his chest on the way past him.

"He missed? Why?" Chrom said. Now Lon'qu was behind him, putting distance between them. What was he doing? Did he intentionally miss his attack? Chrom turned around, trying to figure out what his opponent would do.

"This ends here!" Lon'qu shouted. He raised his sword grasping it in both hands as he charged at them for the last time. "Release!"

"Hu—?" Chrom found himself cut off as he suddenly screamed in pain. He found a slash across his arm, wide and bleeding. "What the hell's happening?"

"Chrom, the clones!" Cordie said. Chrom's eyes widened as he realized what was happening. Lon'qu didn't need to cut him, he'd placed a fourth clone down which could do that for him. Now the other three clones started to converge on them, and Lon'qu as well.

"Damn it!" he said. They were trapped. There was no way either of them could take this attack completely and still come out standing. He looked over to Cordie, his eyes widening as he realizing she was in even bigger danger. She was in the path of all four blades, and he didn't want to know what was to come after that.

"Cordie!" He jumped in the way of her, shielding qas much of his body as he could with his arms as the four of them struck him down. "Gaaaah!" he screamed as he was cut all across his body. He dropped his blade as he slumped to the floor, collapsing on it as he was done for.

"Ghh… Damn…" he muttered out as his head hit itself on the ground. "Not yet, please." He coughed, a small amount of blood escaping his mouth.

"Chrom!" Cordie shouted. She picked his head off the ground, holding it to her stomach. "Oh gods! Chrom!"

"I'll be okay, they've got healers," he said, letting out a weak chuckle. He looked at her arms and legs, frowning. They were bleeding almost as badly as his whole body was. "You got hurt too. I'm sorry…"

She shook her head, clutching him even tighter. "I don't care! You're hurt even worse than me!" The look in her eyes she gave him showed him nothing but pain. She looked like she was ready to cry, even. Seeing her like that made his heart drop.

"I didn't want to go down yet, but it looks like this is it…" Chrom closed his eyes, barely able to keep himself from fainting. He cursed himself. He let his team down, and now all he could do was hope that the rest of them could carry the day.

She lowered her hand, placing it softly on his cheek. It was soft, just like it was whenever she used to grab him by the cheek when they were kids. "Don't think about that, let's get you to safety." Cordie lifted him up, and though her grip was shaky, even through his weakness he could tell she held him with everything she had.

"Hey, I can't keep fighting anymore," she said. "He needs help. We're giving up."

Lon'qu sheathed his blade. "So be it." He let the two of them go as Cordelia forfeited the match, carrying him in her arms as his consciousness faded to black.

* * *

Reflet fired off a thunderbolt, blasting one of their enemies off the stage. "That's mine down. And you, Marth?"

"I defeated mine, as well," Marth said as he stood over one of their defeated enemies. They surrendered, getting out of the arena as quickly as they could. Plenty of fighting had gone on since the start of the match. Reflet scanned the area, looking for who was still standing and who had fallen. She watched as Wayne took out several other guards alongside Kellam, but then got taken out by that lady with the cute outfit and pink hair. Then that lady got taken out by Kellam, who grabbed her by the face and jumped off the stage, sacrificing himself to finish her quickly. As he landed, there was an odd flare of purple light that flashed when he hit the ground. Did Kellam know magic?

Reflet shook her head, confused. Either way, that meant that the only ones left were now Marth, herself, and Lon'qu, the enemy leader. She had only glanced at him before, but she could tell he was powerful. He defeated Vaike, Chrom and Cordie already, almost all on his own. And then there was that green energy that radiated off of him. What was that ability, and could he do it again? And could they really defeat him with only the two of them? She opened her Thunder tome, skimming through the lines of the first page as she watched him catch his breath. To be honest, even with his injuries, she really wasn't that confident in her abilities and whether or not she'd be able to defeat him.

But she could not afford to lose. She closed her book and held it in both her hands, ready to cast at a moment's notice.

"Ready to take this guy out?" she asked, turning to her friend.

"Let's go," he said, nodding at her. Together, they approached their opponent, with Marth in the front and her in the back. Reflet got a closer look at her enemy, specifically his physical state. He was on his knees, panting heavily, and his body was completely covered in scrapes and wounds. He's been through quite the battle, which she was thankful for, really. But they shouldn't underestimate him or let their guard down one bit. After all, he was the one who knocked out nearly half their team.

He glanced in their direction, taking notice. Immediately he raised his blade to his head level, rushing at them to end the fight. "Go!" he shouted, lunging at Marth. Thanks to his weakened state, however, Marth was able to bounce his blade off his and return with a counter slash across the arm. Yet he ignored the pain, retaliating with a slash to Marth's chest before distancing himself. Marth shouted in pain, clutching his chest as Lon'qu zipped by him, going straight for Reflet with a strike to her upper chest.

"Woah!" Reflet bent herself backwards, slipping underneath his blade, firing off a thunderbolt as she pedaled bac. He weaved past the spell, closing the gap between them as he delivered a hard blow to her stomach with his fist.

"Gyah!" she screamed, clutching his fist with both her hands. She quickly headbutted him across his face, getting him off of her. She fumbled backwards, rubbing her injured head. "Oww! That hurt even more than I thought it would!" She raised her palm, aiming at the man who looked even more in pain. She readied another bolt only for him to jump back towards her, grabbing her by the hand.

"Huh?" she asked, only to find herself being immediately thrown to the ground, smacking her face. "Mphm!" she mumbled, rolling off the ground as she fired a third bolt. This guy was really fast, faster than Chrom as he showed by dodging her attack. He rushed at her again only to be stopped by Marth, who intercepted the attack before he could reach hee. Their blades locked with one another until Lon'qu disengaged, stepping back before striking once again.

"Hahh!" he shouted. Yet the moment Marth struck back at him, he pulled his sword back, dodging right past Marth's sword before delivering a real slash across his chest. Marth screamed in pain only to be cut off as Lon'qu punched him across his face, sending him to the floor. He coughed, barely getting on his feet before Lon'qu kneed him in the head, knocking him back down.

"Ug-gh," Marth groaned, struggling to get up as Lon'qu turned his sights back to Reflet. Reflet swallowed the saliva in her throat as Lon'qu approached her. This wasn't good for her. Marth didn't look like he was getting up any time soon. It was becoming clear to Reflet that she didn't stand a chance against Lon'qu alone. Marth needed to get up. He was stronger than her, which meant he was the one who could finish this fight. But how could she buy him the time he needed? And she needed to do it quickly or else Lon'qu would finish the both of them off. Reflet scrambled around in her thoughts, trying to dig up some kind of solution. She looked down at her book and then at her palm, grasping both of them as an idea came to her head.

"Hey!" she called out as she rushed towards Lon'qu. She raised her palm as if to cast, only to sneakily throw the book in her other hand straight towards him instead. "Book!" she said as she hit Lon'qu in the face, who flinched for just a moment. Now in close range, she closed her fist, jumping at him as she readied a punch to his face.

Attacking like this was a mistake, that is to say she was not prepared for what would happen next. Lon'qu clenched his teeth as purple and violent lightning began to spark around him. A bright, shining spark of light shone from his eye as he lifted his leg. Reflet's eyes widened, realizing there was no avoiding this next attack.

"Be silent!" Lon'qu struck her in the stomach with a punt made with all his might. It felt like a metal rod bashing her across the tummy. She found herself screaming as her body was overwhelmed by excruciating pain.

Yet even through the pain, Reflet got one last smile in. The moment she was hit, she managed to get her palm open. "Kyh-h, Flash!" she said. It sparkled with a white light before exploding directly in front of Lon'qu's eyes, making him scream as he covered them in pain. Yes! She blinded him like she intended! Now Marth could win this!

Unfortunately for her, however, while she had expected she'd be attacked in some way, she wasn't expecting just how quickly she'd be sent hurling backwards. Scratch that, she wasn't hurling, she was _flying_. Reflet zoomed across the arena, barely having the time to understand what was happening to her. She turned her neck around, finding herself already at the edge of the arena and flying beyond it. At the rate she was going, it was only a matter of time before she…

"Oh no…" she said.

_Ohhh dear..._

She was right about to crash into a wall, wasn't she?

"Mar-Mar win thi-!"

* * *

Marth struggled to get up as he heard a loud crash behind him. "Reflet!" he called out, turning back to the crash site. She was unconscious on impact, lying down in a pile of the remains of a very thin wall. "Gods damn it!" he screamed. Why did she do something so risky like that?! Oh dear gods, had he not been fighting he would've sprinted immediately to check on her. But he couldn't afford to do that, this was a mission to save the world.

So instead, he made sure he'd finish this now, and check on her as soon as he was done.

"Ghh...gahh." Lon'qu rubbed his eyes with his elbow. If there was anything good to come out of that attack Reflet made, it's that the spell she used left him wide open. Marth picked up his blade, swinging it as he made the final attack.

"Take this!" He landed a wide slash across Lon'qu's chest before thrusting his blade into his heavily would stomach. There, that should be enough to finis—

Marth heard another stab, and soon after, a sharp pain pierced through his own chest. He looked down, finding one of Lon'qu's blades running through his body. A hellish pain washed over him as he locked eyes with his opponent's. Lon'qu said nothing, yet his eyes fiercely told him that he was going to be the last one standing.

Marth coughed as he found himself crumpling down, barely managing to even kneel on one leg. Meanwhile, Lon'qu continued to give him that fierce, icy glare, not showing a single sign of weakness. Was this it? Was he going to lose? Was everything that he'd been doing, all the plans he made, all the mistakes he had corrected, were they all for nothing?

No, he can't lose. He could not lose. He couldn't afford to lose.

_He'd win._

Marth clenched his teeth, pushing himself back on his feet. "Haaah!" he shouted, getting right back up and staring Lon'qu down. "I won't lose this! Not today!"

The two of them stood there with each of their blades within their opponent, each counting the seconds down as if they were hours.

 _One seconds, two seconds,_ those were the only thoughts in Marth's brain as he strengthened his resolve, refusing to back down.

_Three seconds, four seconds, five…_

Lon'qu's grip on his blade started to weaken. His eyes finally began to show their weariness. Marth smirked, holding onto his chest tightly as his own showed his will.

_Six, seven…_

Lon'qu's head gave way with a slight slumping downwards, then only another second later, he fell backwards, getting on his knees before finally collapsing to the floor with a thud.

_Eight…_

Lon'qu was warped away to the infirmary, and the crowd began to roar for Marth, chanting his name. Marth tumbled over, laughing to himself as he splayed his arms and legs on the floor. He found himself filled with an unexpected sense of pride.

"I won…" he said, giggling before he heard what the crowd was actually chanting.

"Mar-Mar! Mar-Mar! Mar-Mar!"

Oh gods why was the crowd chanting that name?

"Craaap..." It was because he put it on the sign up sheet in the first place… Marth sucked a breath inwards, hissing it out as he closed his eyes.

"Fuck."

* * *

Several hours later, he woke up in the infirmary of the Gray Palace. His wounds were all patched up thanks to the palace healers. Marth was thankful that they were there, he was pretty sure that each Shepherd who fought was left in pretty rough shape.

And there was one particular Shepherd he was furious with. The moment he was given the clear, he headed straight towards the room of that girl. Her door was wide open, with bright candlelight shining outwards. He marched right in, looking for the white-haired woman in her bed. Her black hood limped over the edge of her bed. She had swapped her clothes for a long, white set of sleeves which covered her entire body, save her hands. In her hands was a book: "The Archanean-Valentian Dictionary: 1873."

Reflet took notice of him, waving at him with an innocent-looking smile. "Hi Marth!" she said.

"I can't believe you would do that!" he yelled at her. He was half tempted to take off his mask just to show her how angry he was with her.

"Umm, what did I do?" she asked.

"Do you understand how reckless that attack you made was? You are a mage, your role is not to charge straight towards a swordfighter who is several times more skilled than you!" he said, pointing at her. "He sent you through an entire wall because of that!"

"Oh right." She furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head up towards him. "But we won because of it! Isn't that what you've been trying to do for so long? You said in the future the Feroxi army's morale would be low if we lost. I did it to make sure we could win!"

His anger for her wavered for just a moment as her words struck a chord with him. "Yeah, but, you still shouldn't be doing that! You could've been hurt even worse than you already are!"

"But I'm a Shepherd!" she argued back. "Isn't that what we do? We fight people. And we may get hurt, but we do it so that others won't be hurt!" She shook her head. "And we won! Isn't winning what's important?"

"Not at the cost of you getting kicked into a wall!" He put his hand on his head, taking a seat next to her as he let out a deep breath. "Look, I don't want you getting hurt, okay? I… don't like watching anyone get hurt like that. It's hard for me to handle." He lifted the right half of his mask up, letting her see his regular eye. "Promise me that you won't make such risky attacks like that anymore, please? I don't want to see my allies in more danger than they need to be."

Reflet's mouth parted as she stared at him, her cheeks red. "Wow…" She raised her finger, nearly taking his for herself. Yet just before they connected, she lowered hers back down, shaking her head silently.

"I wish I could promise you that, sorry," she said. "I can't promise you that, because I promised I would help you out, and Chrom. You said that our world needs to be saved, and if we didn't win this fight, then we'd be in a longer, more terrible war. I felt like if I could do anything to stop that, then I needed to do it." She looked back into his eye, her purple to his blue. "Isn't that what you were thinking? When you were outside training and you collapsed, it was because you also felt you needed to win this tournament. And that meant you'd do anything no matter what."

Marth hissed a gasp through his teeth, turning his head away from her. He bit on his thumb, hissing out a longer breath. "...Ghh, you're right," he admitted. He turned around as he took a seat on her bed, his back facing her. "May I lay down?"

"Sure," she said, patting the space next to her.

"Thank you," He said, laying his back down on the top half of her pillow. Reflet scooted over to the other side of the bed, letting him adjust himself.

"I'm rather tired, you know?" he told her.

"It has been a long day, and a long fight. Let's enjoy what we can, shall we?"

"Thank you, Reflet." He let out a sigh, turning his head to the side. The two of them said nothing to each other for a short while, continuing to rest alongside each other. Marth was somewhat surprised at how much space he had within the bed, which wasn't particularly big. It was due to just how small Reflet was. She was easily the shortest out of all the current Shepherds. Marth turned to her, watching her as she read the book in her hands. Her sleeves drooped downwards, revealing to him her blackened arms.

"Your arms…" he said, leaning closer to her. "They're completely bruised." He grabbed both of her hands and slid the sleeves further down, revealing to him just how injured they'd become. Her arms were tiny and thin, not made to take heavy hits.

"Um, yeah…" she said, rubbing one of them. "They're healing up though, you know, thanks to magic. The nurse told me I was in much worse shape when they first saw me, and that I'll be fine in a day or two." Reflet ran a finger through her white, wavy hair as she sheepishly laughed. Marth shook his head as he took a look at her bruised neck. She'd been more injured than she was letting on. He could only guess how she must've looked like when she was hauled to her room.

"What about you?" she asked. "You were getting hit hard by Lon'qu. What about your own injuries?"

Marth raised his shirt, showing her the scar on his stomach. Reflet looked down at his chest, her eyes flaring as they came across his wound.

"Wow, nice. I mean, oww," she said, quickly shaking her head.

"I was told that this would heal completely in a few days if I don't do anything to injure it again," he said, pulling his shirt back down.

"So does that mean you're not gonna train in the meantime?" she asked.

"...I wish to keep training."

Reflet puffed a cheek up, looking at him disapprovingly. "Hmmm," she hummed in a disgruntled tone. "Fine, but don't overexert yourself, please?"

He nodded. "Alright," he said. "So long as you promise not to let yourself be kicked into walls anymore."

Reflet's cheeks burned as she shook her head fervently, stammering on her words, "H-Hey!" She grumbled meaningless, embarrassed sounds, before grabbing her hood and hiding her face behind it. Marth let out a small snicker, watching her hide herself.

"That was somewhat amusing," he said.

"Oh, so you're having fun watching me?" Reflet said, pulling her hood further up. "Hmph! Well my cloak won't let you see me anymore!"

Marth laughed even more. "Do you really think your cloak is going to protect you?"

Reflet pulled down her hood to glare at him. "He's a good cloak, unlike someone I know! He'll protect me!" she said, pulling it back up.

Afterwards, there was a knock at the door, drawing their attention. Marth covered both his eyes with his mask again, making sure whoever entered couldn't see them.

"Excuse me? Is Reflet in here?" Donnel stepped into the room, letting out a sigh the moment he saw the girl. "Reflet, there ya are! And hello, Marth, sir."

"Donny, hi!" Reflet lowered her hood, waving at him.

"Are you okay?" Donnel quickly walked up to her, crouching down at her bedside. "I saw what happened to you during the fight and it got me worried. I wanted to make sure you were alright, you're my friend after all."

"Thanks," Reflet said. "I'm bruised, but I'll be okay."

"Do you think I can see how your injuries look?" he asked. Reflet nodded, giving him one of her arms to see her blackened skin. He winced as he took hold of her arm, shaking his head.

"Yeesh, I sure hope that heals up quickly," he said. "Do you have any other serious ones?"

"I'll be fine," she said. "Thank you for coming to check up on me."

"Of course, anytime Reflet." He turned to Marth, giving him a quick nod. "So I guess you came to check on her, too, right? That makes sense. You two were fighting together after all."

"Err, yes," he said. From what he knew of him, Donnel was a nice person, though he was rather close friends with the royal family. Thus, he should be careful around him to prevent messing with events in the future. "Do you know how the others are faring?" he asked.

"The others huh?" he said. "Most of them are supposed to take it easy, but I think I saw pretty much everyone walking by now." Donnel scratched his scar, stretching his hand out. "Actually, the Khan's invited all of us to come celebrate Flavia's victory, and they'd like to see the man who delivered the winning blow. Are you two able to come to the dining hall?"

"Yes, I'm fine enough to walk," Marth said as he got off the bed. "And you, Reflet? Are you able as well?"

"Let me see." Reflet got down from the bed only to wince as her feet touched the floor. Her body fell downwards, and immediately both Donnel and Marth moved to catch her.

"Hey, I gotcha!" Donnel said, pulling her back up and letting her rest on his shoulder.

"Me too," Marth said, keeping her steady with his hands.

"Hehe, thanks, you two," Reflet said with a giggle.

"Of course," Marth said.

"Always, you're a big friend of mine," Donnel said.

"Aww, you are too." She smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I think I'll be fine if I sit on a chair, can you help me get there?"

"I think so, let me try. Here, stay close to me." Donnel adjusted one of her arms so that it was more secure around his neck, lowering the other as he held on to it more tightly. "Is that okay with you?"

"Yep. It's very sweet of you, you know" she said. "Thank you, really."

Donnel scratched the back of his head, smiling at her. "Heheh, it's nothing. I'm sure you'd do it for me too."

"Of course, we're friends." Reflet brought herself closer to him, steadying herself.

"Ready to go, sir?" Donnel said. He nodded, and the three of them left the room, making their way to the dining hall.

* * *

The three of them arrived at the palace's dining hall. It was much larger than the one they had gone to earlier, and accommodated so many people. People he'd never seen before, mainly soldiers and mages, alongside influential members of the country. This one must have been the room they used for larger gatherings. At the end of the room was a large round table, where the Shepherds sat alongside the Khans and some members of the rival team. Lissa took notice of the three of them, getting Chrom's attention as she waved at them.

"Guys, over here! We got three seats for you!" she said.

"Come on you two," Donnel said. He helped Reflet walk to the seat to the right of Chrom and Cordelia, setting her down as he took the seat next to her. Marth swallowed the saliva in his throat as he realized something. This would be the first time he would be around so many Shepherds in close conversation. But it wasn't as if he could refuse a request from the leaders of Ferox.

 _It's going to be alright. If you do everything right, then nothing bad will occur,_ he thought in an act of reassuring himself. If he could stay calm, then he wouldn't affect too much, right? He just needed to have a simple conversation with them.

"Don't just stand there, come on Marth!" Lissa said, getting out of her seat. She grabbed him by the arm, bringing him to the seat next to her.

"Huh? Hey!" he said as he was made to sit down.

"There, that's everyone now," Lissa said. Marth bit his lip. The situation he found himself worried him almost as much as the fight itself. All he could do was wait for it to end, hoping no one would pay much attention to him.

"Thank you, Lissa," Flavia said from the chair across from them. She drank from a very large glass of wine, larger than any other cup in the room. "I can't thank you enough for your help today, especially you Marth!" She let out a loud laugh as she leaned in her seat. "I'm finally the ruler of Ferox, and now this loser gets to bow down to me!"

"Aye, and I cannot thank you enough for beating the hell out of the best champion of all time," Basilio said, sitting beside her. He pointed to Lon'qu at the end of the table, sitting next to Olivia and 'Wayne.'

"Lon'qu, what happened today, lad?" he asked, throwing his hands up.

"Hmph," Lon'qu said, crossing his arms. "Forgive me." His head had been lowered the entire time. Olivia patted him on the shoulder, looking sympathetic towards him.

"Ah, he's alright," Basilio said. "Give him a couple of more fools to fight, he'll feel better in no time." He turned to Flavia, asking a servant to refill his mug of ale. "Anyways, you'd better watch yourself for the next three years, you brutish woman. Cause when they're over, I'll be right back on the throne where I belong."

"In your dreams!" Flavia laughed, sipping more of her wine. "Not when I have the Shepherds! I'm considering making them my own personal guard, then they would win every single tournament for the rest of your lifetime. Wouldn't that be irritating to you, oaf?"

"The only thing irritating me isn't your words but your ass, spouting shit at me." Basilio chuckled. "Marth, you get me, right?" He reached out his hand, giving it to him.

"Uh, okay?" Marth awkwardly shook his hand, feeling confused the entire time.

Basilio chuckled again, nudging Flavia with his elbow. "See that, woman? He gets me."

"Pshht, he's only saying that because you made him do it," Flavia said.

"And I'm just saying you should get your ass checked out." Basilio leaned forward as he put both his hands on his knees. "Gods, will someone please find a way to get it to stop spouting shit all over the place?"

"Hah," Flavia said. "Please, I get my ass checked out more than you ever have in your life." Her response elicited more than a few laughs from some of the more less restrained Shepherds, alongside a couple of snickers. But for Marth, it only served to make him even more confused. Had these two always been like this? He'd never met them before, so he hadn't a clue as to who they really were. His family gave him a general idea of two wild leaders who were rough around the edges, but he hadn't expected them to be so crass as individuals. They were constantly jabbing at one another, trying to see who would crack first.

"Now then, I may have lost, but you, Marth, you sure are something." Basilio smirked, pointing his finger at him. "That was one of, if not the most spectacular ending to any Earth King's Tournament I've ever seen. That standoff where you two stabbed each other? You have a will to win unlike anyone else. I wish I managed to snag you before the woman I call an asshole did. Had I both you alongside my team, we would've had a landslide victory."

"I'm glad you think that way." Had he not messed up his original plans, that would've been what was supposed to happen. But, instead of fighting Chrom directly, he would've given him the match. It'd be much less difficult than the battle he went through today.

"It truly was, lad. I've never seen such fierce fighting in the last sixteen years I ruled."

"How funny, he thinks the last sixteen years were ruling," Flavia interjected.

"Not now, woman," Basilio said. "I'm trying to be a gentleman and congratulate my opponents."

"A gentleman you say? You failed at being that thirty years ago." Flavia downed the rest of her wine, laughing again.

"Bah, bite my big brown arse." Basilio shrugged her off. "Aye, Chrom," he said, grabbing his attention.

"Yes?" he answered, turning to him.

"I expected that if anyone would take out my champion, it'd be you. It was a shame that you went down so soon, but you sure had an impressive fight you had out there. If you had fought against anyone besides the best swordmaster in the country, I'm sure you would have won."

"Thanks, and I'm impressed by how strong your leader was," Chrom said. "Really, I'm lucky that Cordie was with me. He left me in pretty bad shape." He turned to Cordelia, giving her a wide grin.

"Y-you really think so?" Cordelia said, starting to blush as she looked back at him, staring into his eyes.

"Yeah, thanks for looking after me." He patted her on the shoulder, then wrapped his arm around her, pulling her towards him for a hug.

"Oh! O-of course, Chrom. Anything for you!" Cordelia quickly played with her hair as she blushed even harder, letting her head rest on his neck.

"Yeah, she's really great!" Chrom said.

"Aye, even with one eye I can see that clearly," Basilio said.

"Heh, that might be a little much…" Cordelia said.

"What do you mean?" Chrom said, furrowing his eyebrows. "Look at you, you can use swords, magic, and you know how to ride flying horses, too? Is there anything you can't do? You're like a genius!"

Suddenly Cordelia's eyes widened as she pulled herself away from him. "A genius? Excuse me, Chrom?" She grabbed the arm wrapped around her, throwing it off of her immediately.

"Woah, what's wrong?" Chrom looked at her dumbfounded.

"Oh no," Marth heard Sumia whisper.

"Yep," Lissa whispered. The entire mood of the table shifted. Everyone was now quiet, with all eyes watching the two of them.

"Don't call me a genius." she said bluntly. She let out an anxious breath, shifting her head away from him.

"Why?" Chrom blinked at her with his mouth open, confused. "Aren't you a genius?"

Cordelia bit her lip as she put a hand on her arm, tightly gripping it. "I'm _not_ a genius."

"But it's true, you are a genius," Chrom said.

" _Stop calling me that,_ " Cordelia hissed through her teeth.

Chrom put a hand on his head. "I don't get it. You're smart, you're great, you're perfect even. What's wrong with calling you a gen—?"

" **I said stop!** " Cordelia abruptly slammed her hand on the table. She got out of her seat, storming her way out of the dining hall.

"Cordie, wait!" Chrom stretched his hand out, as if trying to grab her before she could leave. "Oh gods, what did I do nowww?" He let out a regretful groan, taking off after Cordelia.

"Well then, that was a sight," Basilio said awkwardly.

"Quite," Flavia said, sipping her wine.

Marth bit his lip as he looked around the dining table. It was apparent that everyone thought that went poorly, including himself. Slowly the murmurs recontinued, as everyone awkwardly tried to shuffle past the incident.

"It's a long story…" Sumia said as she got out of her seat, heading after them.

"Ah, it's one of those things, then." Basilio said.

"Excuse me, what do you mean one of those things?" Reflet asked curiously.

"Aye, come over here, lass," Basilio said, curling his finger.

"Oh, uh, sure." Reflet got out of her seat, stumbling as she stood up.

"Careful, Reflet." Donny put a hand on her, helping her over to Basilio. "You're still weak, right?"

"Yeah, thanks," she said. "I am feeling a little better than before, though." She and Basilio moved to another table, talking between one another.

"So, Donny," Lissa said, putting her elbows on the table.

"Yeah?" he said, scooting his chair so that he'd face her.

"I saw how you were looking," she said with a teasing tone.

He furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"You know, when you were helping Reflet?" Lissa grinned as she slowly turned her eyes to the woman sitting next with Basilio. Whatever they were talking about seemed to make her happy, and Marth could even hear her let out a squeak from where he was sitting.

Donnel blushed, rubbing one of his cheeks. "Eheh, I don't know what you're talking about, Liz. Ref's just a friend."

"Of course," Lissa said, chuckling to herself. "Anyways, so, Marth."

"Yes?" he said.

She looked at him, raising her eyebrows up and down. "Nice mask."

"Erm, thanks." He bit into his food, chewing on it. All the while, Lissa continued to stare at him, as if trying to see through his visor.

"Is something the matter?" he said.

"Oh, nothing at all." She giggled, tilting her head. "So where'd you get it from?"

"Umm… A friend of mine had once given it to me. I believe it formerly belonged to his parents, though I can't say where it originates from."

"Well, you have quite the intriguing mask. That is for certain."

Marth turned to see the aqua-haired man speaking. His finger was resting on his chin as he closely looked at his mask with intent.

"You…" Marth said quietly, biting his finger as he locked eyes with him. To start, it was clear to Marth that 'Wayne' was an alias he was using. More importantly though was the fact that he was a rather tricky Shepherd to deal with. He was clever, and often had ulterior or secondary motives when speaking. He should avoid him as much as possible for his own sake.

"Pardon me, I couldn't help but find myself staring at it," Wayne said, moving his head around as he inspected it from where he was sitting. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking almost irritated at the mask. "It's clearly a work of art. As for its origin, that would be the country of Rosanne."

"How would you know that?" he said.

"Once you've travelled around as much as I have, you will start to notice these little details." He crossed his arms as he shook his head. "The design belongs to a certain man I know. He must have crafted it some time ago." He turned to face Lissa, lowering his hand to her. "But hopefully, my dear lady, that should answer your question."

"Thank you," Lissa said. "Wayne, is it? My brother told me you would be joining us."

"Correct. I hope that my skills tonight did not disappoint." Wayne turned back to Marth, putting a hand over his head while he continued to glare at his mask. "You're interesting, Marth. I'm curious to see the kind of man you are."

"As am I," Marth said. "Though, don't be surprised if what you find is more pleasing than disappointing." _Crap, it seemed like Wayne wouldn't be letting up anytime soon._ If he were to prod him any further in the near future, he feared that he may accidentally spill the origins behind the mask's creation. It didn't surprise him that the archer had noticed, however, he didn't expect to be called out on it so soon.

"I should hope so." Wayne smiled at him, relaxing his expression somewhat. "Joining this company is clearly looking to be the right choice," he muttered to himself, getting out of his seat. "Very well, I think I've had enough for tonight. I bid you both adieu."

Lissa watched as he took off, then turned her head to Marth. "That conversation was a little odd. Do you two know each other?"

"No," he lied. "This is the first time we've met."

"Okay…" Lissa furrowed her eyebrows, turning her head away as Basilio and Reflet came back to the table.

"You've returned, oaf," Flavia said. "Dare I ask what it was you talked with her?"

"Bah, I was just explaining some things to her." Basilio shooed her away with his hand, getting back to his chair to drink more ale.

"Hmph, alright oaf," Flavia said as she crossed her arms, smirking. "Whatever it was, it doesn't matter, because I've won the Earth King's Tournament!" She let out a loud, hearty laugh. "Ahhh, it does feel good to win!"

"And we are to receive our aid now?" Frederick said with a content smile.

"Of course! A deal is a deal! I'm a woman of my word!" Flavia got out of her seat to shake his hand, laughing gleefully once again.

Frederick nodded. "Excellent. We shall look forward to fighting alongside you." With that, the rest of them continued to eat their dinner. Marth watched the Feroxi ruler celebrate her victory with a small smile on his face. Admittedly, a part of him felt almost as great as the Khan did. Despite everything, the first part of his mission was a complete success. Now it would be one last night until they returned home, and for him to take on the most crucial part of his task. The part that would decide whether the fate of the future would finally change for the better, or if it would stay on its dark road to ruin once again.

—Prologue - The Memoryless Girl, End—


	8. IF-1: A White Violet's Black Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little interlude to finish off the first arc! Thank you for reading this far!

_Year 1880, December 5th,_

"Raise your sword," he said.

His almost six-year old adopted niece shakily lifted her sword, worry filling her every breath.

"Good, now swing at me!" he instructed.

She swung at him. The swing was sluggish, raw and untrained. A blow much too easy enough for him to deflect with his training lance.

"Again!"

She swung with more speed this time, but still lacking in any real force.

"Again!"

Her wooden sword and his lance clashed once more. If this was all she could do, she wouldn't be able to save herself once he and the others were gone. He needed to prevent that, he had to ensure she would be a capable fighter in the future.

"Again!" he shouted. "Swing at me with everything you got! Don't stop swinging at me until you land a hit!"

"But I don't want to hurt you!" his niece argued.

"A kind thought, but the dead don't care about kindness now do they? Fight like you mean it!" He struck her in the leg with the blunt end of his lance. It was a restrained blow, meant to teach her that her enemies would try to hurt her.

"Oww! Uncle Freddy!" she yelped.

"The undead will do much worse than I will, now come at me!" He struck her in the legs again and again, making her scowl at him. He needed to push her to want to fight back. After one too many blows on his end, she finally growled, raising her sword with all her strength and retaliating, striking his lance at the shaft with the aim to knock it out of his hands. An 'A' for effort, but it wasn't an attack that would hurt him or the undead. He deflected the blow and swept her off her feet with his lance, bringing her to the ground. Defeated, he pointed his training lance to her neck.

"Is that all you have? You won't survive like this. Attack me! Get up!"

His niece got back on her feet, striking at him again. He caught her attack once more, but she surprised him by continuing to pressure him with more attacks to his lance. One, two, three strikes, then another, and with her fifth blow she finally managed to knock his balance just enough for him to give her an opening to deal a sharp whack to his face, sending him back a step. The hardened eyes on her face melted away to give him a soft, apologetic and childish look.

"Eep! I'm sorry uncle Freddy!" Lucina said.

"Impressive," he said. She finally landed a hit. "We'll stop for now."

"...You're not mad at me for hitting you?"

"Nonsense, this was necessary training. Go find Owain and Brady, tell them you can play with them now."

"Thank you, Uncle Freddy!" His blue-haired niece hugged him at the waist, picking up her training sword before running off to find her cousins.

* * *

Frederick returned to the barracks, taking a seat next to Lissa and Maribelle who were having a rare drink of tea.

"Urgh, I wish tea wasn't getting so scarce." Maribelle set her teacup down on the table, only half-finished. "I miss being able to down a gallon of it on a bad day. Freddy, how's Lucy's training going?" Maribelle looked very different than she used to. Her hair was no longer as prim and proper as she formerly prided herself on. Instead, it flowed messily and loosely downwards, with only minimal maintenance due to the stress of ruling a kingdom constantly beset by danger. The elegant gowns she used to wear were replaced by simple shirts and slacks; she had given all her old clothes to the children in Libra's orphanage, thinking that they would enjoy them much more than she ever could in these trying times. The only thing that remained consistent with her past self were the white hair bows she always wore, which she kept as a gift from her now wife, Lissa.

"She's learning," he answered, "maybe in a few months she'll be able to defend herself in a pinch. Hopefully we can hasten her growth."

"With all these undead corpses raiding the lands, I can only hope she learns quickly enough. It's for her own good." Maribelle passed him the other half of her tea, "Drink it, you've been training all day with her."

He drank from the tea slowly, savoring what little he could get of its deliciously sweet flavor. Who knows when they'll get a shipment of the stuff again. "Thank you, how are Owain and Brady doing?"

Maribelle sighed, "They're just the kind of handful you'd expect from a couple of children. Brady's magic training is going well, but he doesn't get why he can't just beat Risen in the head with a stick. Every healer we have is equal to a potential life we can save. He has to understand that soon."

"Owain's doing fine, both in his magic and his sword fighting." Lissa said, taking a sip from her tea. "But he keeps talking about his hand being cursed for some reason, and how his blood keeps aching. I've checked him at least twenty times last week, and nothing's wrong!" Lissa raised her hands and shook her head, "I don't get him, but he is a kid after all." Despite her frustration, Lissa looked like she was in much better spirits than Maribelle or anyone else in the kingdom. She was in her own set of Exalt robes, similar to Emmeryn's in design yet sporting her signature yellows, whites and browns. Even through these war-filled years, Lissa still kept her optimistic outlook on life. For some of their citizens, it was her smile and goodwill that was the only thing that kept them going.

"And what of the others?" he asked.

"Kjelle is still struggling with her riding classes, and Severa…" Maribelle trailed off, shaking her head.

Lissa chimed in, "She's still furious over Cordie constantly leaving her behind for supply runs. At least her swordplay is getting better as a result."

He took another tiny sip of tea. _Gods, that tasted good._ "I can understand her anger, but it's not like Cordie can take her with her. These supply runs are too dangerous, we can't afford to take the children with us. What about weapons?"

Maribelle kissed her wife's cheek, making Lissa giggle and blush. "Enough of our weapons have been blessed to get us through the next three months, yet we still don't have enough mages trained in light magic to use the Purge spell to properly defend our perimeter. We need to find newer mythril mines, some of our camps are getting the nastiest of raids as of late. I swear, the bandits we used to deal with weren't nearly as brutal on our people as today's issues. Now we have even more bandit raids and we have these zombies to deal with."

"Have we been able to recover the other Legendary Relics?" he asked.

Lissa kissed her wife back on the lips, making Maribelle stammer about in a fluster. "Of the seven in our possession, we still have the five that we can use currently. But we don't even know if anyone can use the Forseti at this point. The Mjolnir and Helswath still haven't been recovered from the Black Rose Castle. And as for the other relics, we still don't have them. We also haven't had contact with Miriel since she left for Valm, so we have no idea if she managed to get hold of the Valflame yet."

"And the Queensfang can't be used by anyone else besides Lucina…" Frederick said. "Damn, that's still not enough. And what of the Darksphere?"

"Still in the Black Rose Castle with the other two weapons. We can't break into it. The castle is too fortified by a massive Risen army. Looks like they're all trying to guard the Relics there. We'd need about a hundred or more people, or at least most of the Relics to take them on. If we had more Relics, we could strike with a smaller but much stronger team to get in there and recover Sable and the two Relics."

He hit his wrist on the table. "Damn," he said, frustrated. They still weren't making progress fast enough.

Lissa lowered her chin to the table, letting out a sad sigh. "I miss Chrom… he should've been here with us…"

Maribelle patted her on the back, slumping down too, "I miss your brother as well, my darling Lissa. How long has it been?"

Frederick shook his head. "...I miss him too." He sipped the last of his tea. Even its sweetness couldn't do anything for the knot in his stomach.

The door nearest to them opened, and a mage in black robes rushed into the room. Robin had grown taller since they first met, and was closer to Lissa in height now. Frederick noted just how long the tactician's white hair got. Formerly it rested only at chin length. Now, it went all the way down to just below the tactician's lower back, hidden under that large, oversized hood. Frederick had seen that look on Robin's face since forever. A shy yet optimistic smile, but with eyes which carried a look of perpetual guilt. It was as if those eyes were apologizing for something they could never say aloud. Which, given the life they've all been thrusted into, was not out of the ordinary.

"Guys!" Robin ran towards the table, hands raised and cheering.

"Robin!" Lissa said, perking up.

"Supply run's done! We got another batch of mythril! Whatcha doin?" Robin began to pout, staring at their drinks. "Aww, you guys had tea? I want some."

Lissa handed the tactician her cup. "Here, have the rest of mine."

"Eep! Thanks!" Robin took the tea and let it sit in the tactician's moutu for a while to enjoy the taste. Swallowing it, Robin looked around to see the rest of their faces, frowning and realizing the air of the room. "Did I come in at a bad time?"

"It's nothing, just," Lissa sighed, letting out a single sob. "Chrom."

"Oh." Robin held onto his gloved left hand, squeezing it so tight it was almost as if he was crushing it. "I'm, I'm sorry everyone."

"It's okay." Maribelle sniffled. "We know it's not your fault."

"Four years," Frederick said, finally answering Maribelle's earlier question. "That's how long it's been since we lost my lord, your brother, and our friend." He looked down into the last of his tea, clenching his fist.

"And it seems like everything's gone downhill ever since," she continued. "Ever since Chrom died, zombies began to crop up in droves, attacking everything in sight. We had to fortify what places we could secure with tough walls to protect ourselves, but who knows how long they'll hold up."

Robin slumped his head onto the table. With how much speed they'd put behind it, it was more like a bang. "But… it is all because of me…"

"What? Robin! Don't say that!" Lisaa defended her friend from himself.

"But if I never had gone inside that day, if I had never gotten hit, then I wouldn't have been knocked out," Robin said, shaking his head. "And then Chrom, he would've never died to… to that guy…"

"But it isn't your fault!" Lissa argued. "You weren't the one who killed him! Don't blame yourself for this!"

"Look, I'm just... sorry about this… I'm sorry about everything." Robin took out the dagger he carried and held it to his eyes contemplatively, as if he was thinking about something he'd been considering for years. He turned his blade sideways, shedding a tear at his own reflection. "I wish I could go back in time, to before all of this. To before Chrom… To before we all got stuck in this mess… When I still felt"—he stopped, swallowing the air in his throat—"more like myself."

Lissa sank into her chair, her eyes turning to Robin's. "I'd do anything for a chance to do things over."

"If only there was a way, I'd take it in a heartbeat." Maribelle added.

"Except there isn't a way to go back to the past," Frederick said. "Not any we know or that we can take. But I'm with you all. I share all your sentiments…"

Robin took a long look at his dagger, getting out of his seat. "But we can't give up," he said. "We have a world that needs saving, and we're going to defeat the Grimleal and their army. We just have to find those Relics and complete the Awakening Rite!" A fire lit itself in his eyes, the kind when the tactician came up with a crazy and/or brilliant idea. "If we can bust into Gangrel's castle, get the Mjolnir, Helswath and Sable, then we'll already be halfway done!"

"But Gangrel's castle is teeming with Risen," Lissa said. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to come up with a plan to slip through there," he said. "Watch me!"

Frederick smirked at his friend, "Oh? Another one of the Divine Military Adviser's schemes?"

That flustered Robin, making him do the thing he always did whenever embarrassed: shy his head away, grumble and talk really fast. "Nooo! Why did you all give me that nickname?" he whined, hiding his face behind his sleeves. The other three laughed, with Robin soon joining in as he uncovered his face. Even in dark times, Robin's presence always served to lighten everyone's spirits. He was thankful that out of everything that changed in the world, his friends were still his friends in the end.

* * *

Where could the rest of the Relics be? They had seven in their possession, but more than half of the Jugdrali weapons were missing, and some of the other Non-Jugdrali Relics as well. If Robin had to guess, the Earthbreaker and Yewfelle were somewhere still in Valentia, which was a ways away, but they'd probably be the easiest to recover. Last time they checked, Valentia had the least amount of dead guys they had to deal with, so Robin could expect it to not be the most difficult of areas to search. They'd find the weapons' whereabouts, and then maybe they could go and kill —again— whichever dead guy picked them up.

"Maybe if I went for the Skadi and Njorun...?" Robin muttered to themself. "No, that'd be crazy. Those two would never give them up, and I'd probably have to take them both on at once. I mean, it's worth the shot… I'll think of something on the…"

"Excuse me, miss?"

"Miss?" Robin whipped around to find a tiny, blue haired girl standing behind them. It was Chrom's kid, Luci. She was holding a wooden sword in her hand, pretending to do a triple flip in the air by swirling her sword repeatedly.

"Yeah, you're a miss right?" Luci asked.

_Wow, this girl saw her as a miss. Wouldn't that be a dream? To be a miss._

"Umm… what do you need?" She found her cheeks reddening at the compliment in embarrassment, playing with the bang which covered the left half of her face.

"Why were you talking to yourself?" she said as she spiked her sword downwards. It was like she was trying to be a mini Chrom.

"I was just thinking about something I have to do for your aunt," she said, pinching her own cheeks.

"What were you thinking about?" she asked.

"What was I thinking about?" Robin smiled. "Only the most amazing powers in the world!"

"Woah," she said in awe. "How amazing are they?"

"About as amazing as this magic trick." She stretched her arms out and moved a safe distance away from her, rolling her tongue like a drum. She jumped into the air with a backflip, disappearing into a puff of smoke. Then she reappeared within another smoke puff about an extra jump's worth of height higher than when she disappeared. She twirled as she fell, barely sticking the landing acting as if it was perfect. "Ta-da!" she said. She reached into her pockets and pretended to grab something, then with both of her hands she threw a confetti of bubbles, sparkles and more smoke all around like a stage magician, making the girl giggle.

 _Haze and Blink first, then Haze second. Flash, Bubbles and Haze for the confetti._ It took no effort to cast these spells anymore. She had hit a point where she no longer needed books to cast a variety of magic without exhaustion.

"That was amazing!" Luci said, clapping excitedly at her performance.

"Thank you, thank you!" The kid was adorable, it was good to see someone in high spirits.

"Aren't you one of Aunty Liz's and Uncle Freddy's friends?" she said, furling her eyebrows as she put a finger on her chin. "What did they say your name was? Ma… Mage?"

She laughed at that. "No, my name is Robin." That was one part of herself that she actually liked, it was neutral enough to not be considered masculine by most people. Such as this girl, who thought of her as a girl. Should she come out and tell her she wasn't a girl?

"Oh, I see. Miss Robin?"

Nope, being called Miss felt too good. It was like a buzz of joy was sent straight to her brain. She'd tell her, but not now. Later, maybe.

"Yes? What is it?" she asked.

"You're pretty," she said.

"Meep." She shied her head away from the girl, blushing quickly. _This six year old was trying to make a move on her_ , she joked. Obviously she had no interest, but compliments like that from anyone easily embarrassed her.

Thinking about it now, she did wish she had some girl who could call her pretty all day. Preferably taller than her, slightly older, and could lift her up. She liked strong women. Hopefully that woman would also love going to the theatre with her. Gods, she missed the theatre. She hadn't been able to watch a show in two years, and she had to watch it all by her lonesome last time. Being alone sucked for her. She had to watch Liz and Maribelle be cute and cuddly together alongside Olivia and her partner. Even Donny had a partner by now. Oh, sure, she was happy for all her friends who got paired up, but she was more than sore over not having someone for herself.

But it's not like there was anyone out there for her. Most of the girls she knew were taken by other partners or were just not into her. Besides, most girls probably wouldn't be into a girl like her.

Robin blinked. "Girl?" She shook her head, muttering to herself. "There you go, Robin. You've been calling yourself a girl again. You know you're not supposed to…" She pouted, turning herself around in her sulk. "Whatever, dad. Calling myself a girl is comforting, even if it isn't true. Oh, how I wish it was true…"

"Are you not?" a little voice called out.

"Meep!" she squeaked. Luci wasn't supposed to hear that. She turned around, getting down on her knees to match the girl's eye level. "Listen Luci, there are a lot of complicated thoughts that run in my head, ones that I can't exactly talk about. Perhaps another day I may confide in you what they are."

Luci blinked, tilting her head. "I don't get it."

"Me neither and I'm sorry," she said, patting the small girl's head as she got back up. "But listen, I have to go now. I have a mission to complete. Goodbye Luci, tell Owain and Brady I said hi."

"Okay, Miss Robin." Luci headed off to the training grounds, looking for her cousins. Robin squeaked as she was once again called a miss. Why couldn't that just be the norm for her?

In any case, she needed to skedaddle onto her pegasus and high-tail it out of there. There was a mission to do, after all. "Kris! Come here filly!" She whistled for her pegasus, who arrived for her to shower with pets and affection. Kris was a full grown mare, but Robin couldn't help but keep calling her filly, it was too adorable not to. Saddling up, she made the run out of the Iris Palace, heading for Valentia.

* * *

_December 23, Rosanne_

Robin jumped out of the way of the Risen Chief's axe as it hit the ground, striking with such force that a wave of earth rose and the building they were in shook.

"Blink!" she said. Immediately she warped from the ground floor onto the top steps upstairs. She was in the Rosanne Museum, a place that Virion had often gushed about yet they never had the chance to visit. He had promised to take the Shepherds with him to this place after the Plegian war, but that was before the war was drawn out to the point where another war had forced a ceasefire between their country and Plegia. Now the place was dilapidated, destitute and destroyed. The entire place was barren. The pillars and floors were weathered and cracking, and everything was either left withered or stolen. She continued to scan the area until an amazing piece of art crossed her eyes.

"Seriously? It was here?" she said as she nabbed the very risque picture of Chrom. Amazingly, it was still in pristine condition. Gods, she'd jump at the chance to laugh again at its absurdity, had she no enemies to take down. She put it back down, turning her attention back to the monster below her.

"You damn bastard, that axe doesn't belong to you. It belongs to my friend." Robin raised her right palm, aiming straight for where the demon's heart should've been. six swirls of yellow and black energy formed around her palm, three yellow, three black. They converged all into a singular vortex, crackling violently with a sinister looking, purple-ish, black-ish color.

"Black Thoron!" she shouted. A wave of black lightning shot from her palm, electrocuting the Risen Chief who held onto the Earthbreaker. A hole bore through its chest, forcing it to crumble to the ground. It was a powerful foe, and if more Risen were around then it might've given her some real trouble. Especially if its creator managed to make a whole wave of Risen just like this one, she'd be lucky to save anyone if a raid on that level occurred.

She used Blink again, warping right in front of the creator of that Risen. In front of her was a sad, shriveled up old man with a sickening, perverted look on his face with a need to destroy the world. She grabbed him by the neck, ready to squeeze it tightly.

"Where is the Yewfelle?" she asked.

He refused to say anything, but his eyes held nothing but terror over the prospect of dying. Ironic for a mass murderer.

She pressed down on his throat, making him gasp for air. "The Rosanneans who took refuge in Chon'sin told me a sect of you have the Yewfelle and the Earthbreaker," she said. "Which one of you has it? Tell me before I stab you." She raised her other palm upwards, hovering it in front of his body. "Where do you want to be stabbed? The neck, the heart, the head, the genitals, the foot? I can wait for you to pick. We could be here all day."

"Hah…" the Grimleal gasped. "Hahhhahhah… The Mila Shrine Ruins… our leader has it… please spare me."

"Thanks for ratting out your bastard friends for your own life." Sick of him, she threw him backwards, making him hit his head on the wall. She turned around, picking up the Earthbreaker before she headed out, only to stop when the old man coughed loudly.

"You'll never win…" he said.

Those words rang in Robin's ears, making her drop the Earthbreaker. "You're Grimleal, aren't you? Are you happy with the state the world is in? Did you get what you want?" She turned back around, walking right back up to him and crouching so that his eyes met hers. "Are you happy with all this death and destruction? All the lives of my friends you've taken from me? From everyone?"

She slammed her fist across his face before proceeding to grab it and smash it into the wall. She should've broken his jaw already.

"Mark my words, I'm going to stop you and your god," she said.

The old bastard started laughing, "Hah… Hahahhah…! Foolish child, do you realize how futile your mission is? Grima's will has already been written! There is nothing you can do to stop us! Even if you find a way to stop the Risen, you will never be able to stop destiny!"

She sneered at him, standing upright once again. "Die already. Black Thoron: Black Blade." From her wrist, a shortsword made of black-purple lightning shot out. She gripped it with her right hand, raising it just like any other blade. She sliced sideways through the Grimleal's neck to see blood splatter on the ground. That was another demon's head she made roll.

"Urgh…" She covered her mouth, trying to stop herself from vomiting. Gods, she hated this. She didn't like killing one bit. But her hatred for killing did not outweigh her hatred for the Grimleal. They were the scum of the earth and there was no redeeming any of them. Not after what they did. They all deserved to die.

She never liked destiny, either, remembering the old man's last words. Destiny was a foolish concept. Nothing was written in stone.

At least her job was complete. Now lay the Earthbreaker in front of her. Within the ruined museum, a light shone from one of the cracks in the wall, gleaming down on the earthly axe.

"Basilio? Is that you?" she asked, looking upwards at the ray of light.

No response.

"Well, I got your axe back. I'm sorry about what happened back then. I know you would love to be here with us…"

She propped the Earthbreaker up and rested it on her shoulder. Even with all the training she forced herself through, it was still extremely heavy for her. If Vaike were here, maybe he could've helped her out. This kind of stuff was no effort for him.

But there was no time for that, and he was still busy in Iris. Making her way out of the deteriorating museum, (and taking the Chrom poster with her,) she found her filly, adorably eating some grass in the field.

"Hiya Kris. How's your day?" she asked.

Kris neighed.

"Oh you know, I'm just talking to a horse, cause you're my only friend out here."

Kris neighed again.

"You're so sweet, I love you sweetie." Robin put the axe down and gave her horse a big hug. She wished she had an apple or a carrot to give her, Kris has always been there for her, and deserved like a million apples.

"Hey Kris," she asked, "would you still like me if I was a girl? If I was, you know, born one?"

Kris neighed a yes, making Robin smile. Robin wrapped her arms once again around her horse's neck, stroking her mane and snuggling her to bits.

"Thanks Kris, you always know just what to say."

* * *

_December 24th, Chon'sin,_

It didn't take long for her to find and recover the Yewfelle. Her friend's bow was in the hands of some Grimleal who thought himself a god. Playing god? That was laughable. No human deserved to be a god, certainly not a malevolent one either. She'd make sure to put an end to whichever demon decided they should rule the world by razing it.

There was irony in that statement, given her own circumstances…

So there she was, excitedly tapping her hands and feet as she sat at the bar table at the inn she was staying at. As she was planning out her next move, a cute maid happened to pass by her, erasing whatever thoughts she had as she glanced at her, her cheeks turning pink. The girl had aqua-blue hair, an extremely adorable face and a unique looking set of stockings that were somewhat ridiculous yet oddly intriguing. "Wow..." she said, trying not to stare too much at her.

The owner of the inn came with a hot plate of eggs and a sliced green apple. He had flax-colored hair tied in a braid, matching his brown eyes, and he wore an orange shirt that left his muscular arms bare. If she had to guess from his build, he might've been a mercenary in his youth.

"Here's your meal," he said. "And it just hit midnight, so it's now December 25th. Happy birthday."

"Yay, my birthday!" That meant she got to do the song. She started clapping her hands, singing the lyrics to the jingle. "Happy Birthday to me. Happy Birthday to me. I actually kinda like-this-song. Happy Birthday to me!" she sang, laughing at her own antics.

"You seem chipper," the owner said as he cleaned a glass. He set it down right next to her, pouring a glass of apple juice. "On the house."

"Ah, thank you." Robin was thankful that that was in stock, she still couldn't stand the taste of alcohol. "About as chipper as can be when the world is overrun by zombies. How about you?"

"The inn is looking like it's going to see brighter days. We managed to plant another batch of apple trees, and our chickens are doing lively as if it was before the wars."

"I hope it stays that way," she said. "And the Risen?"

"They've been giving us a lot of trouble, but a couple of mercenaries have offered to help us defend the city, so long as we provide them with a place to stay. Plus, me and my family can take care of whatever comes our way."

"That seems good. I just hope you don't get overrun." That was a common worry nowadays. With the zombies running rampant, it was increasingly difficult to protect rural villages and far off places that lacked enough force to fight back.

"I pray to Tiki everyday that the world gets better," he said, putting his hands together.

Sadly, she met Tiki, and Tiki was not able to fix this. She bashfully tugged down on her hood. She didn't want to look him in the eye about that one.

She ate the rest of her plate, ordering a couple of apples for her filly. "That was good, but…" she trailed off as she closed her eyes, clasping her hands together and prayed. "Lady Tiki, please bring back bear meat. Let me savor its delicious, bear-y flavor." Bears were endangered in Ylisse, and Liz had explicitly forbidden her specifically from touching any bears until the population rose to safer levels. It was even written in the clause: "No one, especially Robin, was to touch a bear until the bears were at a safe population."

"Bear meat huh?" the owner said as he scratched his head. "I haven't had that in ages either, but my daughter is a big fan of it. We used to hunt a lot of it back in our home country, whenever our services as mercenaries were needed and we were out in the field."

"Me too," Robin said. "Whenever we went out camping, my best friend would try to catch a bear for us to eat…" She sighed, putting her head on the table. Saying that made her feel sad. She didn't want to think about what happened to Chrom right now…

"Hey," the owner chimed in, "did you realize that your birthday's on Tikimas? That's pretty neat, don't you think? I haven't met too many people who were born on holidays."

She perked up, picking her head back up. "Yep! You'd better give me double the presents!" she said, making the owner laugh. She liked the owner. He seemed friendly enough, which was good. It made her feel less anxious around him.

"Well, I do hope everything goes well with your business," the owner said. "It's pretty late, you should probably head off to bed now."

"Right," she said, heading up the steps. "Thank you for the room, sir."

"Of course, young lady. You're welcome here anytime." He headed off to his room, turning off all the lights before leaving.

"Lady?" She blushed, squeaking. That was someone else who saw her as a girl, making her feel light as air. "Thank you for the meal. And the apples, And the room. Just thank you for everything."


	9. Chrompassion

_Year 1873, March 10,  
_

He knocked on her door one more time. "Cordie! Cordie, come on!" he pleaded. After many attempts, the door suddenly jarred open, revealing to him the face of his best friend, a face that scowled at him. Her face was flushed red, and so too were her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks, showing him nothing but heartbreak.

"Why can't you just leave me alone, Chrom? Don't talk to me!" With nothing else left to say, she grabbed the door by the side, swinging it shut.

The hallway was completely silent now. Chrom sighed, feeling like he just had a knife stab him in the heart with no warning. Chrom turned away from the door, walking lifelessly through the hallway until he reached his own guest room. He leaned on the middle of his doorframe, slowly inching his back down it until he sat with his arms over his knees. "What did I do…" he muttered, sinking his head between his arms as if to bury himself.

A soft voice called out. "Hey, umm." He lifted his head up to see Sumia standing in front of him.

"Sumia? You came to check up on us?" he said.

"Yeah, I take it that it went badly?" Sumia kneeled beside him, sitting with her hands on her lap.

"Yeah, really bad. You saw what happened at the door, right?"

Sumia shuffled from side to side, nodding at him. "I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

"Thank you," he said quietly, letting out a sigh. "..I don't understand where it all went wrong. When everything went wrong."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He groaned, sighing from his gut. "Do you remember that time about four years ago with Cordie? The day after my fifteenth birthday?"

Sumia nodded again. "That was the day you two went to Breakneck Pass. I remember it well."

"Well ever since then our relationship has never been the same," he said, shaking his head. "In the two years after that, we never even talked to each other. I barely got to even see her once she joined the Falcon Knights since she was always either training or out on a mission. And then whenever I did have the chance to see her and try to talk to her, she would always run away from me." He lifted his head, staring at his friend. "What's going on Sumia?"

Sumia put a hand on his shoulder. "Cordelia…" she stopped, closing her eyes. "She has a lot on her mind right now. I think it'd be best to wait for her to talk to you about it."

"But I've been waiting for her to talk about it for four years now," he said. "When are we going to talk about it? And it's not just that, her personality has completely changed too. Remember when she used to joke around with us all the time? Now whenever we're alone she's either really serious or really nervous and awkward with me," he said, sinking deeper into his arms. "I don't get it at all."

Sumia wrapped her arms around him, staying quiet as she let him continue.

"I thought things were going so well," he said. "We finally hung out for the first time ever since. No missions, no bandits. It was just me and her at a restaurant. And it was so much fun, too. It's like we were hanging out as friends again."

"You went on a date?" Sumia said, giving him a small smile. "Aww, that's cute!"

"What?" He said, scrunching his cheek. "No, we just hung out, that's not dating."

Sumia raised her eyebrows, her smile turning coy.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just keep being you, Chrom."

"But being me is hurting Cordie," he said. "I can't talk to her without making her feel awkward, and now I've made her really upset today." He sighed, rubbing his bandaged arm. "...I feel like an asshole, What am I doing wrong Sumia?"

"It's not exactly that you did something wrong, though you did hurt her," she said, shaking her head. "It's… more complicated than that."

"But why is this so complicated? It wasn't like this when we were kids. I just want things to go back to the way they were, when I wasn't screwing this up. When all we had to worry about were scoldings from Emm and Freddy."

Chrom rolled his head back up, turning to his friend. "Hey Sumia?" he asked.

"Mhmm?" Sumia nodded.

"Do you know the guy Cordie said she wanted to protect? The one she was singing about on my fifteenth birthday? You know the song, right? The one about how much she's in love with him and how she's to be his knight in shining armor?"

"The guy who… you mean y-" Sumia blinked, scrunching her face up before she stared at him, mouth half open. "Right, that guy."

He got up on his feet, standing upright with his hand stretched out. "I'm going to become a Falcoknight! Because I've got someone who I want to protect will all my heart!" he said, mimicking the words she said to him later that day.

Sumia let out a loud giggle, shaking her head. "Wow, you sound just like her. So what's with the guy?"

"Well, I'm thinking he had some involvement in the reason why Cordie's been acting the way she is," he said.

"What makes you say that?" she said.

"I found out about him on my fifteenth birthday, and immediately after, all this stuff with Cordie starts happening. I don't know what he's done, but maybe I should try to find out who he is." He took a moment to think, trying to figure out why Cordie was so anxious. "Okay, hear me out," he said.

"At this point, sure," Sumia said. She took a deep breath, nodding as she lowered her eyes.

He put his finger on his temple, closing his eyes. "What if the reason Cordie doesn't talk to me anymore is because they started dating, and the guy doesn't want Cordie around me cause it makes him nervous."

Sumia put a hand on her face. "That's what you came up with?"

"Well there's not much else to think of. I can't fathom why she doesn't wanna talk to me anymore." He threw his hands up before pointing one to his friend. "Unless you know something, Sumia. You're probably closer to her than I am at this point."

Sumia snickered, letting out a chuckle. "I don't think they're dating at all, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Hmm, I don't know, it could still be a possibility," he said. "And if it is the case, then he'd better not be treating her poorly. If he does anything bad to my best friend, I'm going to have a talk with him."

Sumia covered her mouth, laughing even longer than before. "I think that'll be a little hard to do. What are you going to do? Beat him up?"

"Well, yeah! If he hurts Cordie, that is!" He raised his fist in the air. "It doesn't matter how tough he is, I'll beat him up if he harms Cordie!"

Sumia's laugh gradually escalated into full-on bawling out. She rolled backwards, leaning her head on the wall. "Ahahahaha!"

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Sumia wheezed out all the air in her lungs, taking several deep breaths. "It's just… keep being you Chrom. It's what makes you great." She got off her feet, giving him a warm hug. "Listen, we're leaving in a couple of hours, so I'm going to take a quick nap. Good night, Chrom."

"Well, alright then," he said. "Thanks for listening to me. Good night, Sumia." Chrom followed her example, closing the door to his room and getting into his bed. Even still, he couldn't nap. His mind kept replaying his thoughts over and over again, keeping him awake until the sun rose.

* * *

Cordelia wiped the tears off her face as she locked the door, only to find herself shedding more tears as she headed to her bed. She took a seat on her bed, then curled herself atop it, rolling to the other side as she sniffled. There she laid, broken both in heart and spirit.

"Why did he have to say that to me…" she muttered. She thought out of everyone, he would know never to call her that.

_You see that, Cordie? It was never meant to be. Quit playing with yourself._

Cordelia breathed in through her nose, shaking her head as she cleared her lungs. She didn't want to believe that. She always got like this, and it always at its worst when it was nighttime and she was alone.

_You know it's true. Your dreams of being with him are just that, dreams. They'll never be anything real._

"Just leave me alone…" she said to herself, rolling herself underneath her blanket.

_You don't honestly believe he could ever like you, right? He never liked you in the first place._

She pulled her blanket closer to her face, covering her face with her pillow in an attempt to tune her thoughts out. Right now she just wanted to sleep, she didn't want to deal with this again.

_He doesn't even care about you as a friend. You don't honestly think you two are still best friends, right? You left him for almost four years, how could he ever care about you that way?_

"Shut up…" she told her thoughts. She let out a sob, pressing even further into her pillow.

_Much less as an actual lover. He knows you're just embarrassing yourself. The carriage ride? The sword he gave to you? That little thing you call a date? Pity is what you should call it. That's all he was doing, pitying you._

She swallowed the saliva in her throat, now hoarse from crying. "That's not true. Chrom wouldn't do that…"

_Oh please, how can you even say that?_

"Because I know him," she said, clenching her teeth.

_Oh, you know him? That's funny. How can you say that after leaving him for so long? He doesn't care about you anymore. How could he when you always run away from him? You don't deserve a prince like him. You don't deserve anyone._

She covered her face with her palms, choking out a sob as more tears trickled down her face. "Shut up. Yes he does…"

_No he doesn't._

"Yes he does," she argued back. "Just shut up, please, _please…_ "

_No he doesn't! Why else would he call you a genius? A genius is what you are!_

"Shut up!" she snapped back, much louder this time.

_Why? You know it's true! You can't do anything right! Can you, little genius? You can't! Face it! Give up, little genius! Just give him up already!_

Cordelia tightly gripped her face, shaking herself in her bed as she tried to get her brain to stop. "Shut up! Just shut up!"

She let out a scream, thrusting herself out of her blanket with a startle. She panted loudly in her panic, sitting upright in her bed. She was alone now. It was dusk, judging by the fact the room was a lighter shade of dark than it was earlier.

Someone knocked at her door. Chrom, most likely.

"I said leave me alone…" she said, looking down at the blanket at her knees.

"Cordie? Is that you in there?" the person at the door asked. Cordelia sniffled, looking up when she recognized her voice.

"Reflet? Sorry, give me one second." She wiped her nose and her face, taking a deep breath as she got out of bed, unlocking the door to see the small girl with a worried look on her face.

"Is everything alright? I heard screaming," she said.

Cordelia held one of her arms with the other, shuffling around as she looked away from her. "...It's fine. I'll be fine."

"What happened that made you scream?" she asked.

She shook her head. "I'm afraid to say. Let's just say that I was having a nightmare. What's keeping you awake? It's going to be some time before we leave."

"I was knocked out for almost a full night's rest, so I'm not very tired at all," Reflet said, scratching her head. "Why don't we stay up until it's time to go? That way you won't get another nightmare."

"That would be rather nice, actually," she said. To be honest, she needed to do something, anything to keep her brain from thinking like that again. "Thank you, Reflet."

"Of course, Cordie," she said, nodding. "So, what do you wanna do?"

* * *

_March 11,_

Reflet got struck in the face by Cordie's stick, falling to the floor. "Oww!"

Cordie pointed her sword to her neck, signaling her victory. "That's four points for me, zero for you, still."

Annoyed at getting hit in the face several times, Reflet rubbed her cheek, getting back on her feet. "Why did I agree to training? Training is terrible," she whined.

"Training keeps your skills sharp, Reflet," her friend said. "Don't go slacking off on it. If you're going to live with the Shepherds, you're going to live as a Shepherd."

"Argh, why do you and Mar-Mar sound the same?" She stomped her foot, giving her friend an annoyed look.

"Mar-Mar?" Cordie said. "Who is Mar-Mar and why do I sound like them?"

"Err, I meant Marth," she said, scratching her cheek. "Sometimes I like to call him that."

"I see," she said, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why do I sound like him though? Is it my voice?"

"Your voice?" Reflet said, looking up as she pushed her cheek with her finger. "I guess you do kind of sound like him, if his voice was just a little higher. But that's not what I meant, I meant that you both like training, and you both keep telling me to do it."

"He does?" she said. "Well then, good. I'll have to ask him to make sure you don't skip out on training."

Reflet puffed her cheeks up. "You're a meanie," she said, narrowing her eyes. "Anyways, are you feeling better?"

"I am a little, thank you for asking." She nodded, breathing in and out. "Let's keep fighting, shall we?"

"Alright, but can you please go easy on me? I'm tired of getting smacked in the face."

"You shouldn't expect that from your enemies, so no I won't," she said, readying her sword.

Reflet let out another whine. "Fine then, meanie…" she said, picking up her training sword. Cordie giggled before they began to spar once again. After four rounds, she could say that she was at least doing better than she did at the start, but not by much. She got knocked down again, losing the match just as a couple of Shepherds arrived at the training yard.

"Hey Reflet and Cordie!" Liz said. Beside her were Donny, Vaike and Freddy, all conversing with one another.

"Sup, Reflet!" Vaike said. "I'll catch you all later! It's training time for the Vaike!" He went up ahead, immediately dropping down to do pushups on the grey-tiled floor.

Liz moved closer to them, giving both of them a hug. "You did great last night!"

"Thank you, Liz," Cordie said.

"Yeah, thanks," Reflet said as the two hugged her back. "What have you guys been doing?"

"Check it out!" Liz raised her hand up as a swirl of red flames surged atop it. It swelled as the flames grew larger and hotter, spinning together as one. She clenched her fist, winding it backwards as she took a step away from them, turning to face the wall in the distance.

"Elfire!" Liz stepped forward as she pitched her fist forward, opening her palm. The flame above her palm shot forward all the way through the yard. It struck itself on the wall, exploding into a blast of fire sparks that quickly vanished in the air.

The two of them gave her a round of applause, impressed by her performance.

"I finally learned Fire magic!" she said. "I spent the entire yesterday getting it right!"

"Great job!" Cordie said.

"Yeah!" Reflet said.

"Ooh! My turn!" Donny said, getting into position. "I wanna show off what I've been learnin'!"

Donny quickly raised his hand up, extending his index and middle fingers like they were a knife. He brought his arm down before crossing it over the other, readying himself to strike. He began to shout, as if he was trying to channel energy. "Haaaaah… Wind!" He slashed his knife forwards as a trail of green, crescent-shaped wind formed behind it. The wind cut through the air as it bolted towards the wall. It sliced the wall, leaving a small groove in one of the bricks as the wind dispersed. He slashed downwards as wind fired from his fingertips, slicing the air before striking the wall as well, leaving cut marks.

"Excellent job Donny, you're a quick learner," Frederick said, nodding at him as the others clapped. "In only a day you went from having never cast a spell in your life to already being able to use an offensive wind spell."

"A day?" Reflet said in awe. "Wow, that's impressive." While she surprised herself with the fact that she could use magic on her first day, it was likely that she had already known magic pre-amnesia. It must have taken a lot of work on Donny's part to get to where he was.

"Aww shucks…" Donny patted his curly black hair. "Yeah, I just imagine I'm slashin' a sword or a knife, and then the magic does its thing. Thinking about it like that makes things easier for me, and it sure is easier than casting a fire spell."

"Now, if I may…" Freddy made space away from them, bracing himself. "I also have taught myself a technique. Watch." Freddy stretched his hand and brought it down to his waist, before scooping it upwards and high into the air. On command, the earth rumbled as a large block of stone and dirt jutted upwards right in front of them.

"Woah…" Reflet walked over to the newly formed wall, poking her finger at the giant gray block. It was just as dense as any other rock.

"I can see this being used as a defensive maneuver in the future," Frederick said, brushing his hand on his suit. "I will use it to better protect both my lieges and others."

Reflet was blown away by all the new kinds of magic shown to her. Each was different from the other, with completely unique abilities. What other spells were out there? Which ones could she learn?

"Hey guys, what's happening here?" Chrom said as he entered the training area. He locked eyes with Cordie, gasping before putting his hand on his head, turning them away from her. "Ah-..."

Cordelia took a deep breath and sighed, turning around. "Sorry Reflet, Liz. I think I'm going to go train with Vaike for now."

"Huh? Oh, okay," she said. "I guess I'll see you in the carriage."

Cordelia waved at her, picking up her sword as she went to challenge the blonde brawler to a match.

"Dammit…" Chrom said under his breath. His smile wore away as he took a seat down on the floor.

Reflet took a seat right beside him. "Are you feeling okay?"

He patted her on the head, fluffing her hair up. "To be honest, Reflet? Not really. What are you all doing?"

"We're all practicing magic," Lissa said. "Let's show him! On three!" After counting down, the three of them fired off their spells all at once, displaying to him their newfound powers. Chrom immediately perked up, getting back on his feet.

"That's so cool!" he said. "I wanna do cool magic like that!" Chrom raised his hand and gave Reflet a look that said he got an idea. "What if I _could_ do it?" he said. He raised his hand up, throwing it forward.

"Elfire!" he shouted.

After several moments, nothing happened. Liz snickered, patting him on the back.

"Aww, I wanna use magic too," he said, sinking to his knees.

Lissa snorted. "You could always start training, you know."

"But that's too many books," he argued. "I can read Liz, but that's too many books."

"Maybe get a tutor?" she suggested.

Chrom looked down at the ground. "...Frederiiick," he whined.

"Yes Chrom?" Frederick answered.

"Can you help meee?" he whined again.

He nodded. "Yes Chrom."

Chrom pumped the air, picking his head back up. "Alright! Make sure to remember, Liz. I'll learn Earth, Wind and Fire before the 21st night of September!"

"On second thought, no," Frederick said as he furled his eyebrows.

"Wait, why not?" Chrom said, frowning.

"You know what you did," he said, smirking. "I jest, however I do not have the time to train you. Between training Liz and Donny and my other duties, I won't have the time. With that being said, if you really do wish to learn magic, then I shall find someone to train you."

"Alright then. Thanks Freddy!" Chrom said. Afterwards, Flavia approached them from behind, alongside Basilio, who she talked with yesterday.

"Sup, kid," Flavia said. "Looks like it's time for you all to return to your country, though you're welcome here anytime. In anycase, the crust-ridden fart has something to give you."

"Aye, come over here lads and lasses," Basilio said, leading them back inside the palace. "I'll show you what I have to give you once we reach the main hall."

* * *

Once inside the palace, they made their way to the main hall. There they waited in front of the stairs, where Basilio and Flavia stood.

"So what's this gift?" Chrom asked.

"Gifts," Basilio said. He clapped his hands, letting out a shout. "Lon'qu! Olivia!"

The swordmaster from last night entered the room, staying as he made his way towards Basilio's left side. Behind him was the pink-haired girl from before, who moved to Basilio's right. Reflet locked eyes with the pink-haired girl, and immediately found her cheeks blushing hot. She shied her head away, hiding it underneath her cloak.

"I'd like to present to you the finest of fighters. My left and right hands of the West kingdom of Ferox," Basilio said, letting them introduce themselves.

"I am Lon'qu," the swordmaster said. The pink-haired girl struggled to speak, twiddling her fingers as she blushed, looking away from them.

"Umm, my name is Olivia." She stammered about, inching herself behind Lon'qu and Basilio.

"Hi… I'm Reflet…" she said, shyly waving at her.

"No need to be so shy!" Basilio laughed, turning to Reflet. "You don't bite, right little lass?"

She squeaked at having been called out. "Why are you asking me?" She pulled her shirt over her mouth, hiding herself further.

Basilio laughed. "Bwahahah! Ahh, don't worry about Olivia, she's as shy as she is skilled, both with a blade and on her feet! She's the best dancer you'll ever see in your life!"

"A d-dancer?" Reflet said nervously.

"Aye lass, she is," he said. "Olivia, show her!"

"Oh, umm… okay." Olivia nodded as she began an elaborate, mesmerizing dance. She flipped and spun all around the room, revealing to everyone her talent. Reflet's shirt slipped out of her fingers as she stared in awe, finding herself entranced by her movements. She finished the dance by throwing her sword into the air, catching it during a backflip before landing with a split.

"Oh g-gods…" Reflet said weakly. "That was great." She hunched forward, pressing her legs together as she covered her burning face with her hand. A part of her felt even more embarrassed as she felt something rising within her body. That really was an enchanting performance.

"You liked it? Thank you." Olivia giggled and bunched her arms up as she got back to her feet, shyly returning to her position.

Liz snickered, putting a hand on Reflet's shoulder. "Yeah, I think Reflet would _really_ want to see you perform again."

"Liz!" she whined, flapping her arms before covering her face with her hands.

"What?" Liz said, giving her an evil, smug grin. "It's true isn't it? You should show her it again later, Olivia. I'm sure she'd love an encore. Maybe she could show you one-on-one? Would you like a private performance instead?"

"Lisssaaaaa!" she whined even louder, pulling her head and hands underneath the hole in her jacket as she shook herself rapidly.

Basilio laughed. "You three could start a riot!"

Liz snorted her heart out, turning over to Lon'qu. "Anyways, it's nice to meet you, I'm Lissa!" she said, getting closer to him as she tried to shake his hand. "I saw you fighting yesterday! You were really cool when you-"

"Don't touch me!" Lon'qu slapped her hand before it could reach him.

Liz looked at him, stunned in silence. "What the heck?!" she shouted.

"F-, Forgive me." Lon'qu lowered his head, turning to the side. "Please. Don't touch me unless you have to."

"Sorry about that, lass," Basilio added. "Lon'qu here isn't comfortable with women touching him. The only reason he even lets Olivia touch him is because the three of us go way back."

"Okay..." Lissa rubbed the hand Lon'qu hit, frowning at him. "Well, it's nice to have you on the team anyways."

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Chrom said. "You'll be lending us your best fighters, right? Won't you need them to protect yourself?"

"Hah! I'm stronger than you realize, boy! The both of them can handle themselves, don't worry yourself!" Basilio said. "Now, it seems you're leaving with more people than you came with, so how about I lend you another carriage?"

"I see, then that would be very excellent," Chrom said.

"Well then, I suppose it's time for you all to get going," Flavia said. "Everything pertaining to the agreement has been sorted out between Frederick and myself. The warriors of Ferox are now your allies. Let's work together, shall we?"

"I can't thank you enough, you two," Chrom said.

"Of course." Flavia waved them off, "Let's kick Gangrel's ass!" Both Basilio and Flavia laughed, waving the Shepherds goodbye as they headed back to the throne room, leaving them to finally head home.

* * *

The carriages were being drawn and ready to go, with most of the Shepherds ready to go, including their new recruits. Chrom waited with the rest of them, standing on the gray stone road that skirted just outside the palace. Chrom approached the carriages once they stopped, only to be stopped when someone called out.

"Hey! Is that Chrom Lowell?"

Chrom turned to see a redhead merchant in a matching red outfit approach him.

"Anna!" Marth said excitedly, greeting her.

"Hey Marth!" she said, waving back. Marth seemed to know more people than Chrom expected. Or at least, that seemed to be the case. Anna turned back to him, shaking his hand. "Big fan, I saw you all fighting out there, that was incredible!"

"Wait, I have a fan?" Chrom said.

"Yep! Name's Anna!" she said, putting a finger on her chin. "I'm a merchant! Listen, can I show you this?" Anna suddenly pulled out a wooden model of his Queensfang, showing it off to the two of them.

"Woah!" Chrom's eyes widened as he stared at the sword. Even though it was made out of wood, every detail was recreated down to the last scratch on the hilt. That was impressive, even he would want to have this stick for himself.

"Oh my gods!" Marth shouted. "Can I hold it, please?" He reached out his hand, practically begging to see it.

"Sure! Here you go!" Anna handed the model to him. He held it in his hands, grinning wildly as he thrusted into the air.

"It's absolutely perfect!" he said excitedly.

Chrom chuckled at him, glad to see his enthusiasm. "You know, I _do_ have the actual Queensfang. I could just let you see it if you want."

"Yes, please!" he said, practically squealing like a little girl. Chrom unsheathed the Queensfang, trading the real sword for Marth's stick. Marth took it from him, squealing even louder as he spun it three times within his hands before striking downwards.

"Hmph," Freddy said as he walked up to Chrom, standing beside him. "Looks like you're not the only one who has a penchant for the Queensfang."

"Is that a surprise?" he said as he watched Marth play with the blade. "That thing is like the coolest sword on the planet."

Marth brought the sword to his eyes, uncovering his mask for a moment while he wiped his face. "Can I smash something with this?" he said, his voice nearly an octave higher.

"You'll get the chance when we get home, kay?" Chrom said, taking the real Queensfang back. He hadn't talked to him much, but he was already fairly fond of Marth.

"Say, since you like it so much, why don'tcha buy it off me?" Anna said, leaving and returning with a large bag behind her.

"Yes!" Marth said. "How much is it?"

Anna closed her eyes and smiled. "4000 Yinny!"

"Oh," Marth said, lowering his head. "I only have 500 left." He shuffled his body around, turning to Chrom.

"Huh?" Chrom asked.

"Could you perhaps…" he said quietly, trailing off as he raised his head. "Could you buy this for me fah... I mean, Chrom?"

…Why did he suddenly feel compelled to buy him everything he ever wanted? Even though he was wearing a mask, Chrom couldn't help but feel that Marth was staring at him with big, watery puppy-dog eyes.

"Of course, Marth." He paid for the replica Queensfang, letting the kid keep it with him. Marth's smile picked right back up as he clutched onto the blade, letting out a tiny squeak.

"Cha-ching! Thanks a bunch!" Anna said as she put the money away in a smaller travel bag. "I've been thinking. What do you think about me joining your little gang? You look like you could use a merchant on your team!"

"Err, I do?" he asked, pursing his lips.

"Yes! You do!" Marth said, still giggling adorably.

"On what terms?" Freddy asked. "What can you do? We'd have to have a good reason to accept another into our ranks."

Anna hummed, shifting herself left and right. "Well, having an Anna can be really helpful! If you want, an Anna can handle managing all your money needs, and they'll do it in a flash!"

Chrom crossed his arms. "Tell me more."

Freddy shook his head. "It is my job already to handle all financial records regarding the Shepherds. I don't see why we'd need someone else to perform them for me.

"Yes, but you don't like doing that!" Marth said, sounding a little desperate.

Freddt uncrossed his arms, leering at Marth. "How do you know that?"

Marth moved closer to him, clasping his arms together. "Pleaseee get me Anna?" he begged.

Freddy narrowed his eyes before shaking his head with a chuckle. "While your attempts to charm me are formidable, I could not do such a thing on impulse, unlike someone I know." Freddy crossed his arms once again as he stared at Chrom. "We're going to need more than that if you're going to join the Shepherds."

"You drive a tough bargain, mister!" Anna loaded her bag into the last carriage, hauling another large bag with her. "What do you say I give you and your band of mercenaries a sweet deal? If you take the offer now, you'll get not ten, not twenty, but a thirty-five percent discount at all Mays family stores!"

Chrom turned to Marth and Freddy, nodding his head and wagging his finger. "Thirty-five percent," he said, counting with his fingers. "With that I could get like four chocolate bars for the price of three chocolate bars."

"Yes! We _need_ to get her!" Marth said.

Freddy's eyes flared. "Did she just-?"

Anna loaded the other bag inside the carriage. "But wait there's more! If you order now, you'll also get a free archer and locksmith, free of charge. Whether you need to pick a lock off, or to pick off a person, an Anna will get the job done."

Chrom clapped his hands before flaring them out. "That's a convincing argument. Marth, we're getting an Anna!"

"Yay!" Marth squealed.

"Milord, she just put her bags inside before we-"

"Anyways, I'm all packed up and ready to go!" Anna said, already inside the carriage. "Let's get a move on!"

"Right! Come on, guys!" Chrom said.

Freddy took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. "Dear gods, what am I dealing with today?"

Chrom and Freddy took seats next to each other once they entered inside the carriage. There, they waited for the others to arrive so they could finally head out. First Donny entered, then Vaike and then finally Liz. Liz closed the door behind her, locking the door before sitting next to him.

Wait, that's everyone? "Where's Reflet and Cordie?" he asked.

Liz scratched her neck, glancing away from him for a moment. "Reflet said she'd be with Cordie in the other carriage. She said they wanted to keep talking to each other."

"Oh, right." Chrom lowered his eyes, leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, that makes sense." A knot twisted in his stomach, and he found himself feeling lonely over Cordie not being here.

Liz put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, thanks for asking." It was understandable that she didn't want to come with him, but it still hurt him to see it happen. "Yeah, thanks for asking. Let's just drive."

The carriage began to take off, heading straight for home. He didn't really feel like much for conversation the entire ride. He stared out the window, watching time pass until they reached home.

* * *

_March 12, Iris,_

After two days, the carriages finally stopped at the palace. Lissa was happy to have her feet touch the earth again, stepping onto the warm grass of the courtyard. It wasn't long before she spotted Emmeryn, who was already running towards Freddy the moment he stepped onto the carriage.

"Freddy!" she said as she tackled him. She gave him a tight squeeze, pressing her cheek against their retainer's.

"Emmeryn!" Frederick laughed, putting his hands on her shoulders. "We're alright, the mission was a success." Lissa giggled as she watched the two being adorable together. They both brought out a sweeter side to one another.

"That's wonderful," Emmeryn said. "Thank you everyone for your efforts this week." Emmeryn continued to hug him warmly as she turned to her, waving at her.

"Heya Emm," she said. "Wanna see what I learned while I was gone?" She raised her hand up, conjuring another Elfire before tossing it at a nearby rock, earning a round of claps from the elder sister.

"Looks like my little sister is growing up into a fine wielder of fire," she said.

"Yep!" Lissa looked around, searching for her best friend. "Say, is Maribelle back? I wanna see her, it's been forever."

Emmeryn shook her head. "I have not seen her since she left for Themis. However, she did send you a letter. I left it in your room."

"Aww…" she said, starting to pout over her not being there. "Well, Maribelle can handle herself." She shrugged it off, turning her frown upside-down. "Reflet, do you want to come with me to go get the letter?"

The girl walked over to her, waving at Emmeryn. "Alright, Liz," she said, nodding.

"Liz, might I ask where is our brother?" Emmeryn said.

"I'm over here," Liz heard him say. He stepped out of the carriage, slowly walking towards them.

"Woah," she said, looking at just how dull and out of it his eyes were. "Are you okay, bro?"

"Yeah, is everything alright Chrom?" Emmeryn said, looking just as worried as she was. Even Freddy and Reflet were concerned for him.

"Not really," Chrom said, "Listen, Emm, can we talk about this in private?"

"Of course Chrom," she said. His family gave him a quick hug, letting him head off on his own. Lissa shook her head. It was no wonder he was feeling so gloomy, not after what happened between him and Cordie. And they were doing so well, too. The carriage ride was not kind to him.

"Well, I'm going to go get that letter now," she said. "I'll see you later, you two." She smiled at her sibling and her butler, taking off with Reflet to her room.

* * *

Liz led her to a wing on the third floor of the palace, where the royal family's bedrooms were situated.

"Wow, your home is really big, Liz," Reflet said as her eyes wandered around the hallway. There were bedrooms for Liz, her brother, and her sister, alongside vacant ones for guests as well as future royal family members. It served a reminder that her friends weren't just friends, but perhaps the most important people in the entire country.

"Hey, it's your home too now," Liz said. "You're gonna be living with us now, remember?"

Reflet held one arm with the other. "I still can't believe you all just let me live here. Are you sure that's okay?"

"Obviously," she said. "You're our friend. It was Chrom who promised to take you in, but if it wasn't him then it would've been me. We're not going back on our word. You're welcome to stay as long as you'd like."

Reflet found herself blushing over hearing that. She tightly wrapped her arms around Liz, closing her eyes. "Thank you."

"Of course." They pulled away, reaching her bedroom's door. Liz opened it, bringing her inside. The room was very big for a bedroom. A large bed sat in one corner. A white blanket draped itself over it, matching the curtains that hung from the top of the frame and contrasting the yellow, fluffy-looking pillow her friend slept on. Sitting atop of it was a stuffed bear who Reflet picked up, grinning as she traced her finger over its black-thread smile. Liz giggled, heading over to her fancy-looking table. Reflet followed, taking note of the two stacks of books which sat next to a plate with crumbs on it. The first stack of books she recognized as spellbooks, judging from their covers, but it was the other stack that intrigued her.

"What are these?" she said, picking up one of the books.

"My medicine books," Liz said as she walked around the room, searching for the letter. "I'm training to become a doctor. I want to be able to save people beyond just healing their wounds. Did you know that Healing magic isn't really effective at curing illnesses and diseases? It can help, but we need to find medicines and other ways to really fight those off."

"I didn't, actually," she said. That was good to know for the future.

Liz picked up the letter which was hiding under the pillow. "Got it," she said as she took a seat on the bed, motioning for Reflet to sit beside her. She scanned her eyes over the letter, her smile straightening out as she finished it.

"What's wrong?" Reflet said.

"You can read it yourself," Liz said, handing it to her.

_Hello my dear darling._

_How did your mission go? You must tell me all about it. I've yet to visit Ferox myself, you know? Perhaps the two of us should go there once everything begins to quiet down. I'm quite fine if you decide you wish to visit someplace else. So long as I'm with you, I'd be content no matter where I find myself._

_I'm still currently investigating the incidents of banditry in my father's region. I have been informed that they have been sighted basing themselves in a village near the Stoneridge Pass. If it's true that they have been holding themselves within the village, then it is my duty to swiftly and harshly deal with them._

_Oh, I very much miss you. I pray that I may return to Iris soon so that I may see you again. I know it hasn't been too long since we last saw each other, but these days seem like they've been getting longer without you. I often think of you as the sun, bringing warmth to my life as your radiant smile shines everyday._

_Do be safe on your mission, darling. Should everything go well, I should arrive upon the 10th._

Just reading those words was enough to make Reflet's face flush. "That was really sweet. I wasn't expecting that."

"That's because she really is sweet, to me at least," she said. "Maribelle didn't have any friends at all when she grew up."

"She didn't?" Reflet asked, staring at Liz's eyes.

"Yeah, all the kids she knew ostracized her. They always whispered things behind her back. She always looked so lonely whenever I saw her." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Even after we started getting to know each other, it took awhile for her to trust me to be her friend. She opens up slowly to people, and it's because of how she was treated."

Reflet looked back at the letter, reading the words on the paper once again. With how much her words stung her, Reflet was still hesitant to want to get to know her after their first meeting. But Liz's words and the letter were enough for her to know there really was more to Maribelle than harshness.

"Thank you for telling me," she said. "I hope I can be her friend."

"I'm sure she'd like you if she got to know you," Liz said. "Look at those cheeks." She pinched the both of her cheeks. "So squishy."

"Teehee!" Reflet giggled as she pushed her away. Liz giggled back, taking the letter off her hands.

"I'm kind of worried for her," Liz said as she somberly ran a finger on the words of the paper. "It's the 12th now, she should've been here already. Maybe it's because she mentioned bandits, but a part of me can't help but worry about her a little."

Reflet patted her friend on the shoulder. "I think she'll be fine. After all, you said she could handle herself. And if something isn't fine, then we could go help her, right?"

"Thank you, Reflet. I hope so too." Liz smiled, hugging her around the waist. She stashed the letter in a box underneath her bed filled with many other similar looking letters. "Come on, let's go downstairs. I wanna show you around the palace some more."

"Okay," Reflet said. The two got off the bed, leaving her room.

* * *

Chrom found himself in the training yard, mindlessly swinging his sword at a training dummy. Though he did have fun with his friends, sitting alone in the carriage ride for two days only served to make him feel even worse than before as his mind got stuck on his best friend.

"Hey Chrom!" someone called out to him. Chrom turned to see Sully, having finally returned from her mission.

"Ah, Sully, you're here." He halfheartedly waved at her, lowering his blade.

"Yep! I've been walking around the palace for a little, and damn, did the Shepherds double in size? There's so many people I haven't seen before." The red-headed knight crossed her arms over her head, smirking as she glanced at some of the new Shepherds.

"Yeah, we got busy over at Ferox."

"Some of them look like they'd give me a good fight, at least until I kick their asses," Sully said, letting out a chuckle. "So, how about a couple of rounds? Come on, like always." Sully headed to the rack and picked up a lance, pointing it to him.

"A fight, huh?" Maybe a fight would pick him up. "Sure, let's go."

The two of them fought, but it wasn't long before the knight gained an advantage. She nicked him in the shoulder, sweeping him in the legs before he could even get a hit on her. His swipe grazed past her red armor, opening him up for a blow to the chest from the blunt end of her pole, making him hit the floor for her victory.

"Damn, that was quicker than I was expecting," Sully said. She gave him a hand, helping him sit up. "You're off your game, Blue."

He shook his head, moving over to the white-tiled steps behind them and taking a seat. "Today is not a good day for me."

"What's the deal?" Sully said as she sat beside him. "You're looking like you're out of it."

"Yeah, you are." Sully's green-armored counterpart took a seat next to him, munching on the top of a chocolate-chip muffin.

"Hey Sol," Chrom said to her.

"Hey," she said with a wave.

"So come on, what's the issue, Chrom?" Sully said.

Chrom sighed. "...Cordie."

Sol munched down on her muffin again, speaking with her mouth full. "Ah, that makes sense."

"Again?" Sully shook her head. "She's really got you in a rut, huh?"

"Yeah, but it's my fault this time, although I'm not sure what I did wrong," Chrom said.

"Have you ever considered not trying so hard?" she asked.

"What?" Chrom straightened himself in his seat. "I couldn't do that, she's my best friend."

"Of course she is. I remember how close you were when we were all kids. I'm just thinking that maybe you shouldn't spend so much time worrying about it. It's not the first time I've seen you upset over her not talking to you."

"That does make some sense," he said. "But let's say someone you were close to suddenly stopped talking to you. Wouldn't you want to know why so you could try to fix it?"

She gave him a shrug. "Fair point. I guess I'm just trying to look out for one of my best friends. Doesn't hurt to take a break for a little for the sake of yourself." Sully picked herself back up, grabbing her lance. "Ready for another round?"

"You are a little right about that, and I guess a break wouldn't kill me." Chrom got back on his feet and readied his sword. "Sure, let's go."

"Forgive my intrusion," someone said. "I would like to discuss a matter with Chrom before you begin."

Chrom lowered his weapon back down, turning around to see Miriel behind him.

"Miriel? What's up?" he asked.

"I was told by Frederick that you wished to acquire magical abilities," she said, tilting her head. "For what reason?"

"Woah, that was fast." He hadn't actually expected to find a teacher so soon, or at all. He said it in the spur of the moment, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested. "I guess, just to learn how to use it."

Miriel gave him a wide grin, adjusting her glasses. "Fascinating. It's rather thrilling to find another individual with an interest in pursuing knowledge for the sake of it. Very well, we shall begin immediately. Is taking him with me to practice acceptable?"

"Go for it, Miriel. Have fun." Sully smiled, turning to her fellow knight. "Sol, you're with me now."

"Oh, fine." Sol yawned, getting into position. "Good luck, Chrom. I hope you feel better."

* * *

Marth headed inside the barracks, happily playing with the Queensfang in his hands. Yes, a wooden sword might not have been as impressive as the real one, but it had been quite sometime since he'd last held the blade when it still looked like this. Holding the replica filled him with a sense of nostalgia. Plus, now whenever he'd train, he could use this sword.

"Now, where did they say my room was?" he said as he entered the main hallway before he bumped into someone.

"Ah! The tea!" The person he'd bumped said. Because of his obliviousness, she accidentally dropped a pot of tea from her tray, one about to break at her feet.

"Woah!" He quickly rushed to her side, catching the tea before it could spill or crash on the floor. "Got it!" he said. He let out a sigh, putting it back on the tray.

"Oh! Thank you very much for that, Marth."

"Of course," he said. His eyes wandered up to the woman in front of him, making him gasp once he realized who he bumped into.

"Lady Emmeryn! Oh my gods, please forgive me!"

Emmeryn giggled. "It's quite alright, accidents happen. Plus, you fixed the problem by catching it before it could drop."

"I see," Marth said, sighing. "Erm, what brings you to the barracks?"

"I had taken a break from seeing Frederick, so I came to see both you and Reflet."

"You wish to see us?" Marth brought his finger to his lips, tapping on it repeatedly. "Why exactly? Is something the matter?"

"Yes? Is that not okay?" She frowned. "I merely wished to share a cup of tea with you two."

He let out a nervous chuckle. He never really talked with her until now, and admittedly, it probably was for the best. And yet still he gently clenched his fist. He grew up on stories from her uncle of how unwaveringly sweet a woman she was, and of how gentle and warm-hearted she was to not only her people but even to those who held hatred for her. A small part of him really wished to meet her. If he didn't accept her offer now, he'd might never have a chance to learn what she was like.

"N-no, that's more than okay. Do you happen to know where my room is?" he asked her. He didn't have to tell her anything future-changing, he could just listen. Nothing particularly bad seemed to come from the interactions he'd had with the other Shepherds so far, and even though he made the mistake of passing out upon meeting them, he still managed to achieve his mission at Ferox.

"Of course, it's over here." Emmeryn led him upstairs to the second floor where a white paper was pinned up, showing which room belonged to which person or people. Above room 4 were tiny, chibi drawings of himself alongside Reflet, meaning they shared the same room once again.

"Thank you very much," he said as he entered the room. It was an average-sized room, with a blue bed on one side and a purple one on the other. The two of them took a seat at the table in the middle of the room, with Emmeryn placing the tray down.

"Would you like some?" she said, pointing to cookies and tea on the tray.

Marth looked at the snacks for a moment, then nodded. "Very well, thank you." He dipped his cookie into his tea before biting it, stifling his smile. Gods, he wasn't expecting there'd be an abundance of delicious food he loved as a child. Perhaps that was one good thing to come from this whole ordeal.

"How has life been for you now that you're helping the Shepherds?" she asked. "Have you been enjoying yourself?"

"I suppose so," he said. As much as he didn't want to admit, the last few days have been rather pleasant. Not only did he finish the first of the most critical parts of his mission, it seemed he was well on his way towards finishing the others.

"I see, well, if I may praise my friends for a bit, the Shepherds are a really nice crowd to be around." They're all nice, good natured people who look out for one another. Know that you can rely on them no matter what."

"Thank you," he said as he took another cookie. Her words were true. Marth looked back at the gift Chrom had given him, letting out a quiet giggle as he bit into his favorite treat.

Emmeryn took a sip of her tea. "I heard that you had been the one to deal the finishing blow to your opponents back in Ferox. I'm impressed, I was told that your opponent was one of the toughest individuals any of the Shepherds had faced."

"It's true," he said. "Lon'qu's skill with a blade is one of the finest I've ever seen. I hope I can achieve as expert a swordsman as he is someday."

"How did you win, if I might ask? There must have been some way you beat him if he's stronger than you."

"We had found ourselves in a standoff with our blades within each other, with the both of us on the verge of collapsing," he said. "After several intense moments, I pushed myself back on my feet, refusing to go down just before he had done so. Though I would say it was determination, I'd have to thank the Shepherds for their efforts, first. Vaike, the prince and Cordelia had all fought valiantly in hopes of taking our opponent down. And Reflet especially, as it was her who was the one who gave me the opening to attack."

"The little white-haired friend my siblings made?" Emmeryn smiled, sipping her tea. "She does seem rather surprising."

"Correct," he agreed. "Yet, her attack was rather reckless."

"How so?" Emmeryn said.

"She'd thrown herself at Lon'qu so that she could blind him with a light spell, and in doing so she got herself kicked through a wall. I know why she did what she did, but I'm still against it."

"I see," Emmeryn said. "Well, it seems you two gave it your all during the battle. I'm rather thankful to have come across you, Marth. You fought for the sake of my country, and not only that, you've saved the life of my little sister. That's twice you've helped me already. I cannot thank you enough for your deeds. I will always be grateful to you"

He nodded. "It was no trouble. I would do anything for the good of the people, and I would save anyone in danger."

Emmeryn stirred her tea, watching the ripples in the liquid as she giggled. "Hehe. You know, it almost seems as if I've stumbled upon the actual Hero-King of legend."

He shook his head. "Though I wear his name, I could never be him. I am undeserving of the name I wear."

"Are you sure about that?" Emmeryn said. "You protect the innocent and fight for them, just like he would. I'd go so far as to say you even look like him. Your hair is as long as his and your outfit is just as similar. Even your hair is the same color as his. Why, were he alive then you might make for quite the body double."

"Thank you for the comparison." In truth, the similarity was intentional on his part. "However, though I may look like him, I lack the strength that he has. I must better myself and break through my limits if I am able to become such a man as capable as him."

"As capable as him, you say…" Emmeryn put a finger on her chin. "What kind of man do you think the Hero-King was?"

"What kind of man was he?" he said. "Well, a rather amazing man, for starters. It was he who saved the world not only once but thrice during the War of Shadows, the War of Heroes and the Schism. He led the liberators of humanity against the power of the Dark Dragons. He must have been a fierce, powerful man in his time, powerful enough to have taken down the Dolhr Empire and strike fear into his enemies."

"You seem like you know quite a bit about him. Perhaps you also know that his weapon is also the same as the one Chrom wields?"

"Of course I do!" he said, giving her a smile. "The Queensfang is one of the most important and valuable Legendary Relics in Ylisse! It truly is such a magnificent weapon!"

"It truly is, and our family is blessed to have it in our possession," Emmeryn said. She pulled out a light-blue book, flicking a page before setting it aside.

"Though, I've seen that Chrom's Queensfang looks nothing like the blade that Marth used." He furrowed his eyebrows, touching the blue-gem on the hilt of his own blade. "For example, it is heavier and longer than it. It overall seems closer to a longsword than the arming sword he was depicted to have. I have never understood that."

She sipped her tea, giving him a smile. "That's because I've made a few modifications to the blade. The reason it's so heavy is that there is metal reinforcing the core blade, giving it the length and weight it currently has. I had done so with my brother's fighting style in mind. You might know that he is rather prone to slashing his opponents, even if his blade isn't tailored to doing so." She smirked, shaking her head. "I should have given him a longsword instead of a rapier had I known beforehand that he would have been swinging it around all the time."

He raised his eyebrows. "I see now," he said. "I prefer to fight with stabbing techniques myself. It was how I was taught by my uncle. In anycase, that would explain why the blades look so different. The original blade was much shorter, thinner. Even the hilts are drastically different."

"That was my doing as well! I had the hilt personally made for my little brother. Do you like how it looks?

He nodded. "It is a rather beautiful design, though it too is quite different compared to how it looked during the War of Shadows. That's because the hilt is completely replaceable, correct?"

"That is correct!" Emmeryn said. "I wouldn't have expected you to be knowledgeable on the subject. Many are aware of the story of Marth and the Queensfang, but most wouldn't notice the more nuanced differences between the old design and the new one unless they had seen both."

"Thank you," he said. "My father had a big love for all kinds of weapons, especially the weapons used by heroes from the past. When I was a little child, he would tell me a story about a hero every night, and he always went into great detail about how their weapon functioned. His favorite story to tell me was the story of Roy and the Binding Blade."

"Your father sounds like a lovely father," she said. "What was his name?"

"Chr—" he stopped, shaking his head. "Marcus, his name is Marcus."

"Marcus? That's a rather cute name. And are you a fan of weapons too?"

"Indeed!" he said excitedly. "There isn't a single hero I don't know. If you were to name a hero, villain or weapon, and you can bet that I know them!"

"Really?" Emmeryn said. "Well then, do you know who wielded the Mani Katti?"

"Lyn!" he said immediately.

Emmeryn crossed her arms, smirking. "You're rather quick, but that was a warm-up question. How about this next one? What was the weapon wielded by the prince of Renais during the War of the Demon King?"

"That's easy, Reginleif!" he said.

"Impressive!" Emmeryn said.

"Ask a harder question, please!" Marth said as he ate another cookie.

"You're getting rather bold, aren't you? Fine then." Emmeryn put a cheek on her finger, taking twenty seconds to think. "Who was the knight in the Jugdrali Holy war that was known for using a Brave Lance?"

"Finn of Leonster!" Marth said, earning a round of claps from Emmeryn.

"You're as good at this as my brother! Imagine if I could get him to put all that energy into anything besides weapons and fighting," she said, letting out a laugh.

"Thank you, this was enjoyable." Marth eagerly rubbed his nose bridge. It was really nice to meet someone who was both knowledgeable on the subject and interested in it at the same time.

"Do you know about the Book of Naga?" Emmeryn said. "It happens to be my favorite of all Legendary Relics."

"I have heard of the legends, though I've never seen the weapon personally," Marth said.

"It is a light-blue book that has been blessed with the power of Naga. It is a very incredible spellbook, perhaps the strongest in existence. It is much like the Queensfang in that only a select few can wield it at full power. Even amongst those with Divine Naga Blood, not all members can use the weapon."

"I see. Then you are quite right about the similarities," he said. Hopefully they could find it, it would be incredible to have another weapon like the Queensfang on their side.

"Since you know so much about these weapons, what is your favorite weapon?" Emmeryn asked. "I'm curious to know."

"It's the one I always carry with me," he said

"Really?" Emmeryn asked. "Why is that?"

"It belonged to my father, and was given to me by my aunt. I wish to be as great as him one day."

"That's sweet. May I see it?"

"I'd be glad to!" He unsheathed his blade and handed it to her. Emmeryn quickly found herself mesmerized by its elegance, eyeing it up and down excitedly.

"My my," she said. "This is a really pretty, pretty... '' Emmeryn trailed off as her eyes widened. "Wait a second. Marth, how did you obtain this?"

"Hmm?" he said. "What's wrong?"

"There's not a scratch on its blade, and the design is almost perfect," she muttered to herself. "This is definitely the Queensfang with its design from Marth's era. But that is physically impossible, the Queenfang is currently with my brother."

Marth blinked several times, putting a hand on his head as he let out an airy breath. "I, uhh, crap." In his excitement he forgot to consider the fact that Emmeryn would be able to recognize his blade. Before he could say anything to defend himself, Emmeryn made a light slash at a nearby piece of firewood, cutting it in two with little effort.

"A clean strike… That can only mean…" Emmeryn's eyes were flared as she turned to him, blinking back. Marth bit his finger as he let out a hiss. He'd messed this up completely, and now he needed to run away as soon as possible. He glanced at the window in the corner of his eye, just above his bed. Quickly, he jumped on his bed, swinging it open as he stuck one foot out, desperate to escape.

"Bind!" Emmeryn shouted, immediately throwing three rings of light at him. They encircled around his body, wrapping tightly and inviting him to a painful fall backwards.

"Woah!" Marth hit his head on the bed, flipping over before hitting it on the rug. "Oww!"

"Oh gods! I'm so sorry about that!" Emmeryn took out the blue book she kept on her and cast a spell on him. It was soft and soothing, and it completely wiped away all the pain he was feeling. He was thankful for being healed, but he was still in a panic over being trapped with a woman who was close to finding out his identity. He kicked and flailed, desperate to break free and escape. But it was hopeless, these binds were too tight, unbreakable.

"I promise not to hurt you any further. Dear gods, that was not my intent." Emmeryn crouched down, staring at the slits of his mask. "But I must find out, are you…?" she trailed off as she closed her eyes. "You can wield the Queensfang, so then you have the Dragon Blood of Naga. That means you're part of the Ylissean Royal Family. But my father never had more than three kids, and he had no siblings. Marth, your existence doesn't make any sense. Unless…"

Emmeryn lowered her head to his eyes as she opened her own, looking at him as if she had seen through his mask. "Are you the real Marth?"

He let out a louder, longer breath as he listened to her every word. "Yes," he answered. It was a lie, yes, but it was best he said a lie than to tell the truth.

Emmeryn shook her head. "Frankly, that doesn't make any sense. Marth would have to be over two hundred years old currently, but you look to be about my brother's age. There is no way for you to be Marth and still be so young unless you suddenly jumped two hundred years into the future. It'd be as if you travelled through time."

Marth's heart began to beat rapidly at how close she'd gotten to the truth, and so quickly, too. Right now, he desperately needed to do everything in his power to keep her from learning who he really was.

"It is as you say," he said with a shaky breath. "I am Marth, and I travelled two hundred years into the future. I'm here to stop the ushering of a great calamity in the near future, so please, let me go!"

Emmeryn shook her head again, "While we were discussing him earlier, you talked as if you hadn't met him personally. You can't be Marth then…" Emmeryn started thinking out loud. "You're related to us, but you're not Marth, yet you admitted to time travelling, and you claim to be trying to stop something from the future…"

She opened her eyes, her stare piercing him through the heart. "Would it not make more sense that you came from the future as well?"

Marth's heart sank as his world came crashing down. He had said nothing, save for a damning silence.

"It seems like I was correct," Emmeryn said.

"Please, don't tell anyone else of this!" he said desperately. "The future will have dire consequences if the others find out my identity!"

"Alright then." Emmeryn flicked her hand, immediately releasing the light rings that imprisoned him. "You're free now."

"Wait," Marth said in surprise as he was unbound. He got on his knees, slowly getting back up. "You're letting the bindings go?" he said, staring Emmeryn in the eye.

"I had only bound you because you started running away," she said with a giggle. "I don't know who exactly you are Marth, though I have an idea. But regardless, I can see that you're a good person, and it would not do well to imprison you. You have your secrets, but they are yours to tell them when you are ready." Emmeryn went back to her seat, gesturing for him to sit down.

"...Thank you." Marth sat back down in his chair, feeling like an entire weight was just lifted off of him. "I'm sorry for trying to escape, and yes, I am indeed from the future. But please, keep this a secret from everyone. I can't afford to tell the other Shepherds of my origins."

"It's a secret to everybody," Emmeryn said with a wink. At first, Marth was surprised at just seeing her for the first time in his life, but now she had completely shattered his expectations. Not only had she figured out who he was, but she promised to keep it between them out of respect. She really did deserve not only the title of the Queen of Iris, but the adoration her family gave her as well.

"By the way, did Freddy ever confess to me?" Emmeryn asked.

"No, it was the other way ar—" He immediately covered his mouth. _Crap!_

"Hah!" Emmeryn chuckled, pumping the air. "My sister's going to owe me 1000 Yinny!"

"Argh," he groaned. He was worse at this than he thought. "Don't tell him, either?"

Emmeryn's lips curled higher as she put a finger on her chin. "No promises," she said, giggling as she closed her eyes. Marth groaned again, regretting his mistake once again.

"Now," Emmeryn said, "I actually have something I'd like to give to you. I see you have a mirror in your room, may I please borrow it?"

"The mirror? Okay," he said. He let Emmeryn grab his arm and drag him over to the mirror.

"Don't look!" Emmeryn said as she closed his eyes. She started doing something to his clothes. He could feel her removing his cloak before putting it back on him.

"Okay, open your eyes now!" Emmeryn said as he opened his eyes, staring back at himself in the mirror. He tugged on his cloak, realizing it was an entirely different one than before. It was more refined than the cloak he wore originally. The outside was a deeper shade of blue than the black-ish blue of the original. He turned it to the side, running a hand over the vibrant red underside, which was also softer than before. He put a hand on the badge adorning his new cape, staring at the shining red emblem reflected in the mirror.

Emmeryn clapped her hands excitedly, moving closer to him. "Thank you so much for saving my sister!"

He stretched his body left and right as he checked himself in the mirror, getting a better look at the new accessories. "These do look very nice, thank you Emmeryn." He smiled, turning back to her.

"I'm glad you liked them!" she said. "I wasn't sure which one to give you originally, so I simply decided to give you all three!"

"Three?" he questioned. "I only see two gifts, the cape and the badge."

"Don't you see? Look at the tiara," Emmeryn said as she pointed to the golden tiara on his head. Marth stared back at himself in the mirror, growing confused.

"Did you do something to it?" he asked, grabbing his tiara and running a hand on the small dragon decorations on it.

"Did I do something to it? No, I gave you mine." She pointed to the table, where another golden tiara laid. "Your old tiara is right there"—She froze for a moment as the second tiara called for her attention, still lingering on her words—"eeerre…?"

Emmeryn walked over to the table, taking the tiara before grabbing the one on his head. She looked at both of them, touching the dragon engravings that both shared.

"Huh, they're perfectly identical." Emmeryn returned both tiaras to him, putting the one she gave him back on his head. "That makes sense. You must have thought that the tiara I put on you was the same as the one you have. You really must be from the future if you have that then, because that's the tiara I wore in my childhood. It was the only one ever made, and you couldn't have made that yourself, could you have?"

He shook his head, his old tiara held fondly within his hands. "I hadn't, and I hadn't known it once belonged to you, either."

"Well, that's rather interesting." Emmeryn clapped her hands together once more. "Well think of it this way. At least now if you ever lose one, you'll always have the other!"

"Thank you." He gave her a smile, putting the tiara in his hand back on the table. Before they could continue, however, the door swung open suddenly. A maid entered the room, giving a panicked look to Emmeryn.

"Lady Emmeryn, I bring dire news!"

"Abigail? What's wrong?" Emmeryn asked, giving her a serious look.

"Go see Phila in the throne room, it's something urgent!"

Emmeryn turned to him, giving him a wink before straightening her face. "Thank you for sharing tea with me. I hope we can do this again, but for now we'll have to cut this short. Will you follow me?"

He nodded. "Of course." Together, they immediately left the room, heading to the throne room.

* * *

Reaching the throne room, Marth saw that nearly everyone was in distress. Liz was shaking in her boots as she made her best effort to stand up, looking at him with pure terror in her eyes. Chrom balled his fist, letting out a breath as he held on to Lissa's shoulder. Beside them was an injured Pegasus Knight with blonde hair, clutching her shoulder.

It was no surprise to see them like this, he thought. He knew what was going to happen once they came back from Ferox.

"What's going on?" Emmeryn said.

Phila stood forward, looking composed and stoic as always. Through her stoicism, she acted as a pillar for the others. "We've just received word that Maribelle has been abducted by Plegian soldiers in Themis."

"What? Abducted?" Emmeryn gasped, raising her hand to her chest. "It can't be, please tell me that isn't true."

"It's true alright," Chrom said, a growl within his words.

"We have to save her!" Lissa said, barely holding back a sob. "Please Emm we need to save her!" She sobbed again as Chrom moved to hug his little sister. Lissa clutched onto him, holding him the tightest she had ever done as she struggled to keep herself together.

"Of course we will," Emmeryn said. "Who's her kidnapper?"

Phila nodded, pointing to the injured knight behind her. "Our scout, Skye reported that she was taken by none other than Gangrel, the Plegian King himself."

"Gangrel?" Emmeryn lowered her eyes as she shook her head. "Oh dear Naga, this is horrible."

"What does that damn bastard want with her?" Chrom said. "What has she done to deserve being kidnapped? This is a farce!" Even though his anger was justified, Marth had never seen Chrom speak so harshly, especially when just this morning he seemed so disheartened.

"He claims that she attacked his villages, and they captured her in self defense," Phila said.

"But Maribelle would never do that!" Lissa objected immediately. "She's too nice of a person! She only wants peace for everyone!"

Chrom nodded in agreement, adding sharper words of his own. "And are we to believe Gangrel's words over what we know about the woman we've spent our entire lives with? Gangrel? Who sent bandits to raid our homes and our people?"

Emmeryn looked as if to say something, yet hesitated for a moment. It was clear she was still reeling from the information. She looked as if she was processing several things at once in her mind, and needed to carefully pick her words.

"I don't want to believe his words either," Emmeryn finally said, "but we don't have all the information. I will go to the Plegian border. We will parley with him so that we can rescue Maribelle as quickly as possible."

"Parley?" Chrom said as he raised his fist. "This man kidnaps one of our best friends and all we're going to do is _talk_ to him? You know Maribelle could never do this! This has to be some sort of trap!"

"Halt, Chrom!" Phila objected. "We will not be doing that just yet."

"Why not?" he said. "This is the man that has been trying to provoke us into war at every step! How can we trust him?"

"We must not act so rashly, Chrom," Emmeryn shook her head, staring firmly at him. "Rash decisions lead to many mistakes, and we cannot afford to make any if we're to save our friend. For if we go to war, then we all lose. Do you remember the last conflict our countries were in? The conflict that conscripted our people and left them homeless and starving? Our entire country was nearly destroyed, Chrom. I'll not let that mistake happen again."

Chrom clenched his fist even tighter, closing his eyes. After a moment, he let out a sigh, opening his palm. "Fine," he yielded. "But I'm coming with you, and I'm taking the Shepherds with me." He unsheathed his sword, quickly resheathing it. "If he tries anything to any of us, I'll cut him down with one blow."

"Very well," Emmeryn agreed, "gather the Shepherds, we leave in thirty minutes."

With that, the meeting concluded as everyone left the room, with Lissa taking the injured knight to the infirmary. Marth found himself waiting in the main hall of the palace, staring at his sword to bide his time. It was time for the Shepherds to rescue Maribelle, the signal for the Ylissean-Plegian war to officially begin.

* * *

Once thirty minutes passed, Chrom left with the Shepherds, ready to head out. They reached the gates of the palace, nearly leaving only to be stopped by a certain young mage in a blue hat called for him to turn around.

"Chrom! I heard everything! Let's head out!" Ricken stopped on a dime, eagerly holding on to his spellbook bag.

"Ricken?" He said in surprise as he spotted him. He hadn't seen him since they arrived. Though hearing his words, Chrom could only shake his head. "No, you're staying here. This is not your battle to fight."

Ricken leaned backwards as his smile quickly wiped itself away. "Why not? I've been training ever since you left, I'm even stronger than I was before."

He was not in the mood to be dealing with Ricken today. There was no time for this, not when Maribelle was in danger. "You're too young, Ricken. And this mission is too dangerous. You're not coming along." Chrom could see that his younger friend was upset with him, but no matter how upset it made him, he wouldn't budge from his position.

Ricken clenched his teeth and fist. "Why is it always that I'm too young with you, huh?!" he said explosively. "Why can't you just let me show you just how skilled I am? I've been in tons of fights before! Stop treating me like I'm a child who can't—"

"No!" Chrom said harshly, cutting him off. "My word is final!"

Ricken seethed from the mouth as he stared him down, but Chrom gave him a stare back, not giving up an inch. After too much time wasted, Ricken finally backed off, angrily walking back inside the palace without uttering another word.

Chrom let out a deep breath, trying to focus on what was ahead. "Come on Shepherds, we're heading out," he said, taking the rest of the Shepherds with him to the Plegian border.

* * *

Ricken kicked the earth as he began saddling his horse, Franz, so he could head out. "Damn it! This isn't fair!"

"Hey, What's up Zaps?" From out of the blue, Asugi appeared with a mini cinnamon roll pinched in his hand, dusting off his butler suit. Ever since the ginger-haired man became a butler, he'd always tease him with his stealthiness, appearing and vanishing without so much as a whisper. But right now Asugi didn't seem like he was looking to tease, and Ricken didn't care if he was.

"It's Chrom!" he said. "He's being a jerk and won't take me on the mission! I'm the strongest mage here, I can do this!"

"So what's with the stallion?" Asugi tossed the roll into the air and caught it with his mouth. "You planning on going against what he said?" He continued, speaking even though he was chewing.

"Yeah, I'm going after him." He said, putting an Elthunder tome in his backpack. "I'm tired of it, I'm not going to let him stop me anymore."

"...Hang on." Asugi raised his finger as he swallowed his snack. "I don't think you should be going at this alone. I heard what was happening over at Themis, and this doesn't sound like it'll be a piece of cake."

"Oh yeah? And what, you'll stop me?" He crossed his hands one over the other, swinging them down in an x-like fashion as he pulled out two of his strongest thunder spells. "Elthunder! Don't try it, I'm not a child who you can walk all over."

Asugi widened his eyes as he took a step back, shielding his face with his hands, "Relax, I'm not gonna do anything like that, put the lightning down."

"Good." Ricken dropped his weapon, dissipating the spells.

"Thank you." Asugi let out a breath, rubbing his head. "I actually came to give you something that I'd think you'd like. Think of it as a little sweet gift." He dug into his satchel and pulled out an extremely thin yellow book, tossing it to Ricken. "Catch!"

Ricken caught the book, reading the first page. "You got me a Fading Spark?" He opened it to see there were only three pages, the standard for this kind of spell. The Fading Spark was in a category of itself. It was part of the elemental 'glass' spells: extremely powerful spells that anyone could use, but took way too much energy to cast as a massive drawback. Even in book form, it still took a good chunk of energy from the caster to use, and unlike most books, it couldn't be recharged once they were used up, as the book would get destroyed in the process. Their readiness to break was what earned them the glass weapon moniker.

Ricken squinted at him. "Where'd you get this? These things are hard to find at a sudden notice, you'd have to order them specially made or make them yourself."

"I figured something like this might've happened. So I went and got it for you," Asugi said. "I just so happened to 'procure' this from one of the court mages. I think his name was Donatello?" Asugi made air quotes with his fingers as he said procure, before he shrugged carelessly. "Not that it really mattered."

"How'd you get him to give you one?" Ricken said before shaking his head. "Well, it doesn't matter. Thank you Asugi." He shoved it into his satchel and saddled up on his horse. "Come on, Franz!"

"Hey now, hold on Zaps," Asugi said with a smirk. "You really think I'm gonna stand here and let you go alone? I'm coming with."

"Are you sure about that?" he asked him, crossing his arms.

"Sure, I got my own mission over there myself. Gimme five minutes, I'm gonna get my horse from the stables." Asugi disappeared then reappeared moments later, already on top of his horse and ready to ride to Themis. He had thrown away his butler's outfit in exchange for a sleek black cloak and lightweight gear, with mythril daggers lining his belt and left leg. He looked nothing like the man he was before.

"Come on, together we ride." Asugi secured the black headband on his forehead, heading off. The two of them rushed to their destination, tailing just out of sight of the Shepherds so they could come in to assist at the right moment.


	10. Chromplicated Matters

Reflet found herself marching alongside the others as they went down the road leading to the border between Plegia and Ylisse. In the very front row were Chrom, his siblings, Freddy and Phila. They seemed to be discussing something rather important with an old man in green robes whom she'd never seen before.

As for herself, she was in one of the rows, sandwiched between the two girls who just arrived, Sully and Sol. They both wore matching armor sets with contrasting colour schemes of red and green. Their armor didn't look as heavy as Kellam's armor did, nor as heavy as Freddy's new armor. Reflet turned to the retainer up ahead to get a better look at said armor. He was now wearing a shiny and heavy-looking set of blue plate armor on top of his suit, and sat atop a big horse in armor similar to his. Reflet turned back to the girls, noting that their armor, though lighter-looking, were of the same type as Freddy's. Looking at the horses the two held on leashes, she concluded that they all were wearing rider armor.

"Your name is Reflet, right?" the green-haired girl on her right said. "I see you're new here. Hi there, my name is Sol."

"Yeah, I joined about six days ago or so," she answered. And a lot has happened since she joined. From what Marth and Chrom have been saying, they're right at the onset of a war. The thought gave Reflet a sense of uneasiness as they walked down the road towards the mountains ahead of them.

"That would explain why we haven't met until now," Sol said. "Sully and I were sent on a mission that we didn't finish until a few days ago. And once we returned, we were immediately sent to check out the forest near Southside, the one where Chrom fought those zombies."

"That forest was the one where the earthquake struck," Reflet said. "What did you find over there?"

"Nothin' much," said Sully, the girl on her left. "But the strangest thing is that there's never been a record of an earthquake hitting that area before. We don't have any proof, but we're thinking it may have been tied to those zombie things Chrom dealt with. A couple of guards were posted over there. They'll be keeping an eye out for anything suspicious." She shrugged her shoulders, shifting up how her halberd rested on them. "But we can focus on that later. I've heard you're making friends with pretty much everyone here. Good on you."

"Thanks," Reflet said.

"I heard you have no memory of where you come from, is that true?" Sol asked.

"Yeah, actually, I do." Reflet frowned as her thoughts returned to her amnesia. "It bothers me, really. Sometimes I wonder what it's like to know who I used to be. It feels like I'm missing some kind of chapter in my life, and I don't know what to fill it with. When I get the chance, though, I wanna find out who I used to be."

Sol nodded in agreement. "Sometimes I wonder if I might be better off not knowing who I used to be. Then I wouldn't have to worry about who that person was, and I could focus more on who I am now."

"What would make you want that?" she asked, giving her a puzzled look.

"I wouldn't entirely say that I _want_ that, I just think it's interesting to consider. As for why, well..." Sol played with one of the tails of hair on her head. "I wasn't particularly happy with myself, at least up until just about eight months ago. Thanks to the help of Sully over there, my brother and one of the mages in the palace, I was able to get better both physically and emotionally."

"Why weren't you happy with yourself?" Reflet asked, growing rather curious.

"You could say it was body issues," Sol said as she scratched her cheek. "Let's just say that my body was never really right for me, at least not for a while. It was the same case for my old name, though I'd prefer if that name stayed forgotten. I'm not sure if you'd understand any of that though."

"Somehow... I think I do?" Reflet's heart started to beat a little faster as she moved closer to Sol. "I like my name, but my body doesn't exactly feel right for me. I mean, I think a lot of it is a little cute, but it's missing some, other things."

Sully leaned in closer. "Not to be rude, but what do you mean by other things?"

"Umm, ah…" Reflet bunched her arms up, pointing to her nonexistent chest with two fingers. "These thingy-thingies."

Sully snickered. "So you mean breasts then."

She darted her eyes from her, starting to blush in embarrassment. "Yes, I wish I had some. Even small ones would make me feel nice."

Sol smirked, pointing to Reflet's flat chest. "I felt the same way when I looked like that eight months ago."

"Hey!" she squeaked, instinctively covering them up with her elbows as Sol and Sully laughed. "Wait, eight months ago?" she said, focusing on Sol's words. "How did they grow so quickly? I was told mine might not grow at all, how did you do it?"

"I suppose I could tell you," Sol said. "I couldn't grow them naturally, so my brother and a friend of ours created a potion for me to let me grow them instead. I'm rather happy as they are now, though I'd be happier if they were bigger. That's what the potion is for, after all."

Reflet's eyes widened as she lowered her arms. "There's a potion to let you grow breasts?! Where can I get that!?"

Sully chuckled. "Heh, this little runt's almost as happy as you when you found out about that potion."

Sol looked at the two of them with a warm smile. "It's rather uplifting to see, honestly."

"I guess after this we'll go try to find Canas and see if we can get something for you," Sully said to Reflet. "I think he's still in the alchemy lab, or he might be out on a mission. We'll find him though."

Reflet felt a spark of happiness growing inside her. "Thank you, you two! I'd love to meet him!"

"Of course, runt," Sully said, smiling back at her.

* * *

The Shepherds passed by a village on the way to meet Gangrel, a sibling village to the one just on the other side of the mountain. The people there had known relative peace in recent years, but were often the first caught in the crossfire whenever a skirmish between Ylisse and Plegia broke out. Despite the mountain dividing them and the tense relationship of their countries, the people who lived there made their lives trading with the other village so that both could prosper, buying what each village lacked and selling what the other needed. Occasionally, bandits would hold themselves up in the mountains, taking shelter against anyone who put bounties on them only to be cleared out by roaming mercenaries from both countries.

Marth shook his head as they crossed past the village, knowing they and people like them would be affected the worst by all this.

Phila turned around, giving out orders. "Everyone, ready yourselves and stand guard." She turned back around, letting them begin the hike up the long, winding dirt road ahead of them. They ignored the shorter path, knowing their horses could not safely trek up the tightly spaced, steeper road. And so they continued to march through the mountain pass, with Marth growing tense with every second.

"You okay?"

"Wha—?" Marth quickly turned around, looking for who was calling him.

"Over here."

Marth turned himself back around when a hand suddenly tapped on his shoulder, making him jolt.

"Gah!" he squeaked, turning to his right to see Kellam having suddenly appeared next to him.

"Hey there," he said, waving a gauntlet-covered hand. "Are you feeling okay? I just wanted to check on you."

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, trying to regain his composure.

"Are you sure? You're looking rather anxious."

"I can assure you that I'm not anxious at all," he said, deflecting the statement. "I am perfectly calm and ready to partake in this battle."

"That's pretty cool," Kellam said half-heartedly. "You must have some kind of nerves of steel then. Most people I know would feel at least a little anxious over having to suddenly go to war. Look at the other Shepherds, even the strongest of them are a little worried. Except maybe Phila, but only because she's trained so much for this."

"He's right, you know."

Marth turned to his other side, finding Lon'qu standing next to him. "Huh?!"

"Hey," he said.

"Did you seriously not notice we were here?" Kellam chuckled. "We've been walking beside you the entire time."

He winced. "Gah, forgive me. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Of course. I could tell," Kellam said.

"You might be wearing a mask, but your emotions still leak out in other ways," Lon'qu said. "You've been making a face since before we started walking."

"Yep, that's exactly what I was going to say," Kellam said. "Thanks Lon'qu."

"Your welcome."

"...Well then I suppose you're right," he said, letting out a sigh. "I'm just worried about what's to come."

"I know. Me too actually," Kellam said. He focused on the road ahead, his face grimacing. "We might have to kill people if a battle breaks out. Do you know what it's like to kill a person?"

He looked down at his hand, clenching it. "...No, I don't. I've fought many beasts, monsters and even humans in my life. Yet I've never taken a life once. People already struggle enough to survive. So to take another's life, to kill another, it's never been something I've ever wanted to do."

Kellam nodded. "Oh yeah, me neither, but I've had to do it. I didn't want to but I knew I was going to have to kill them eventually. See, one thing I noticed is that even though I knew what was about to happen, that didn't do much for me when it came to actually having to do it."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "If you had seen it coming, would that not make things easier for you?"

"It could, but it could also not," Lon'qu said. "Being able to predict the future doesn't mean you're ready to handle every situation you find yourself in. Perhaps what I say next may serve as an example. I knew that I was one of the strongest to fight during our battle, and I knew that none of you would be prepared for the abilities I'm able to use. And yet, I lost. It wasn't a matter of who was the better fighter, but of who was more determined to win."

Marth squinted upon hearing Lon'qu's words. "...Has Lady Emmeryn talk to either of you by any chance?"

"No? Why?" Kellam said.

Marth paused as his mouth dropped half open. "Nevermind. Thank you for your words." He kept those thoughts in the back of his head as they finally reached the midsection of the mountain pass where the two borders officially met. Marth squinted to shield his eyes from the sun as he tilted his head up, staring at the dozens of Plegian soldiers standing by. In front of all of them stood a man atop a rocky outcrop, his yellow cape shifting slightly in the wind. He leered down at the Shepherds with his dark-red eyes that matched his hair and beard, as if he was analyzing each and every member of their group. He adjusted his crown, putting his hand back on his hip.

"Gangrel," Marth said aloud. Behind the king was Aversa, the Archwitch of Plegia, holding onto a defeated and bound Maribelle. The both of them were vile people down to their last breath. His father told him never to trust a man like Gangrel, for a man like him was the absolute lowest of the low.

Gangrel glanced down at Emmeryn. "I see you have your bodyguards with you. You'd better not be planning anything suspicious, Queen Emmeryn," he said, leering at them with a straightened face.

"We're planning something?" Chrom retorted. "You're the one with twice the army as us!"

Gangrel scoffed at his remark. "These are soldiers who had already been stationed nearby when we came to investigate our bandit raid. You would think the prince would bother to look before leaping."

"Hmph, fine." Chrom crossed his arms, his eyes still locked on him. He was right to be angry with and distrustful of the King, knowing what he would usher in the future.

Emmeryn spoke up, "King Gangrel, we've come to hear your reasoning for apprehending the daughter of the Duke of Themis."

"We've received word of bandit attacks occurring on our side of the mountain," the black-robed witch said. "Come today morning, we find that this woman was so bold enough to lead the charge herself. We even found her setting our homes aflame with fire magic. So naturally, we apprehended her. Is it not the right thing to do when bandits attack one's kingdom?"

"I'm no bandit! I have not committed a single wrongdoing!" Maribelle said. She began to struggle in her chains, trying to break free from her captors.

"Maribelle!" Lissa cried out, hopelessly reaching out for her.

"Quiet down, you." Aversa overpowered Maribelle, locking her in a tight hold. "And you there, young lady, you'd better not try anything funny," she said, glaring at Lissa.

"Ah, I'm sorry my darling," Maribelle said as she stopped struggling. "I've made a mess of things, it seems."

Lissa held tightly on her white staff, closing her eyes as she lowered her head away from her.

Emmeryn looked at Maribelle, then to Gangrel. "I don't believe that Maribelle could ever harm the innocent. However, I promise to hear out the rest of what you have to say. I wish only to see peace between our kingdoms, and I would do anything to achieve that."

Though admirable, Emmeryn's words were far too optimistic, Marth thought. He swallowed the air in his lungs as he lowered his hand to his blade, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. He thought of it over and over before travelling to the past, and could not find a way to stop this war from happening. It was destined to happen, and all he could do was ensure they'd be able to end quickly.

"Good, then perhaps we can come to an agreement," Gangrel said. "I seek reparations for what your kingdom has done to ours."

"And what would those reparations be?" Emmeryn said.

Gangrel raised two fingers. "All I want are two things. The first of those is your fealty."

"Our fealty?" Chrom crossed his arms, clicking his tongue in response.

"Yes, your fealty," Aversa reiterated. "The king has plans for the future, and he will require allies to achieve his goals. Gaining your allegiance as well as that of Ferox's would be an excellent benefit to Plegia."

Gangrel gave a sly smile. "If you can promise me your fealty, I'll overlook this little incident that happened with this blonde bandit."

"Don't you dare call her a bandit!" Chrom yelled back.

"But a bandit is what she is! Is she not?!" Gangrel clenched his teeth, his smile quickly turning sour. "A bandit is someone who destroys homes for their own selfish gain! A bandit is someone who lies and steals their way through life at the suffering of others! A bandit is what she is, and a bandit I shall call her!" Gangrel took a deep breath, sighing loudly. "That is my first request. Surely that is acceptable? Besides, the both of our kingdoms could benefit from stronger relationships."

Emmeryn waited for him to finish with a calm and poised expression. "And what is your second demand?"

Chrom turned to her with an irritated look. "Emmeryn, you can't seriously think he's telling the truth now, can you? You know he's been lying from the start, we shouldn't even be considering his demands. How can you trust to enter an alliance with someone like him?"

"I promised I would hear him out," Emmeryn said, defending her actions. "What else do you demand, King Gangrel?"

"I'm glad to see you're much more open to discussions than this hotheaded prince," Gangrel said, giving a mocking smirk to Chrom. "The other thing I want is for you to give me the Fire Emblem in my time of need."

"Give you the Fire Emblem?" Chrom shouted back at the man above them. "Do you just expect us to hand you everything we have on a silver platter? Why would you even need something as powerful as the Fire Emblem?"

"Chrom," Emmeryn said sharply, silently glaring at him before turning back to Gangrel. "For what purposes would you use it for?"

"My reasons are my own, and I will tell them once they're relevant. But I need you to promise me that I may use it when the time comes." Gangrel gave them another smile, one that almost seemed genuine to Marth. Almost.

Emmeryn closed her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "The Fire Emblem is not in our possession."

Gangrel tilted his head to the side. "Come again?"

"The Fire Emblem has not been in our possession ever since the Schism, approximately two-hundred years ago," she explained.

"Is that so…" Gangrel played with his sideburns, taking a second to think. "Very well then, do you still have the Queensfang with you? That will act as a suitable replacement."

"Indeed, it is in the possession of my brother," Emmeryn said.

"Oh, so this little prince wields a Ylissean national treasure" Gangrel turned to Chrom, snarking with a laugh. "I hadn't expected a child to be its wielder, though it seems anyone can wield a Relic nowadays. Next you'll tell me some deadbeat is in possession of the Helswath."

"Listen here, you bastard," Chrom said. "You are not taking my Queensfang!"

"Of course that's how you're going to be," Gangrel said as he let out a scoff. "How difficult. I'm just trying to receive payment for what your country has done to mine."

"Don't act like you're innocent!" Chrom countered. "We should be the one's receiving payment here! We're the ones whose country has been attacked by brigands!"

"Excuse me?" Gangrel gave Chrom a scowl as he walked down the jagged steps of the mountain, meeting him eye to eye with the same amount of contempt Chrom shared for him. "Whatever have I done to your country?

Chrom clenched his fist, raising it towards him. "You're the one who sent these damn bandits to our kingdom! And then you feign innocence and act as if we were the ones who caused this incident?"

"I have never ordered my men to do such a thing, do I look like the kind of man who would do that?"

"I have proof that you would!" Chrom shouted. He pulled out a letter from his pocket, nearly shoving it into Gangrel's face. "You were the one who wrote this letter telling your men to attack our kingdom! We found this on one of your men!"

Gangrel stepped backwards as he snatched the paper from his hands with his fingers. "Hmph, I would never write something like this. Or is this forgery just your blatantly obvious attempt at starting a war? Of course it is, you wouldn't be the first one to send bandits across our border to provoke Plegia into warring with Ylisse." He handed the letter back to him, shaking his head in disgust.

"You bastard, why the hell would I ever want to start a war with you?" Chrom grabbed the letter from him, crumpling it in the process.

The scowl on Gangrel's face transformed into a grin with all the vile bitterness he had for Chrom. It grew wide with satisfaction as he gave out a small laugh. "Because you're just like your father. Hotheaded. Impulsive. Did not give a shit about the people around him. And will probably die in a ditch on the battlefield, just like him."

Marth's jaw swung open as Gangrel's words fell on his ears. Before he could even see the other's reactions, Chrom threw a punch straight at Gangrel's face, only for him to sidestep out of the way.

"What the hell did you just say?" Chrom said, throwing another punch at him. "Say it again, you bastard!" He threw punch after punch at Gangrel, who ducked, dodged and caught each hit.

"Easy there young prince," Gangrel said, his hand pushing back against Chrom's fist. "It seemed as if your arm accidentally tried to hit me several times. If you did hit me, then it'd be a sign that our negotiations are over," he said with a self-satisfied grin.

"You better hope I don't hit you!" Chrom threw another punch with his other hand, only to find it stopping in place right at the king's smile. Three rings lined his arm from the wrist, shining their hard and solid yellow light. They imprisoned him, pushing against the force of his attack. Chrom grunted as he twisted his neck backwards, looking at Emmeryn who had her hand raised up.

"Emmeryn, what the hell are you doing? Can't you see what he's playing us?" Chrom pulled his arm backwards, trying to break his binds in futility.

"Chrom, for the last time, stop what you're doing." Emmeryn stared him down as she moved closer to him, placing more binds on his other arm and his legs.

Gangrel groaned loudly, stepping to the side as he let go of Chrom's hand. "You Ylisseans are just the worst. Especially this prince." He shot his hand out, pointing directly at Chrom's face as he let out a snarl. "You know what's irritating? I come here expecting reparations for what is a bandit attack to my kingdom, and what do I find? A bastard prince who's a repeat of his bastard father trying to start another war with my kingdom! Right down to the hair, chin and tattoo! I can't stand staring at your face, you know that? You and your father are everything I hate in the world!" Gangrel grunted as he quickly turned around, directing his attention to his soldiers. "Soldiers, We're leaving!"

Emmeryn cried out, "Wait! Gangrel! We-"

Gangrel cut her off, "Don't bother, Exalt! Our negotiations are over. Aversa, take the bandit with us! We'll decide whether to execute her or not when we get back to the palace."

"Execute her!?" Emmeryn gasped, unintentionally letting go of her binds as she covered her mouth with her hands. "Dear gods, no!"

Lissa began to sob loudly, burying herself into Reflet's shoulder. "Please! Please don't kill her, I beg you!"

Chrom screamed in anger at the Plegian king. With his binds released, nothing stopped him from bolting straight towards the Plegian army, his Queensfang drawn. "You are not killing my friend!"

Gangrel quickly turned around, finding his eyes widening at Chrom's sudden rush.

"Soldiers! Stop him!" he shouted back. On command, the two axemen closest to Chrom sprinted towards him, swinging their axes. Chrom swept underneath both of them, cutting both of them down without stopping in his haste to save Maribelle. Gangrel eyes were filled with horror at the sight of his men falling down, only to transform into anger as he shouted once again at Chrom.

"Well then it seems we have war!" he yelled. "Aversa, kill the woman now!"

"As you say, Lord Gangrel." Aversa pulled out a knife, raising it to Maribelle's neck with her left hand. Maribelle closed her eyes as she silently weeped, resigning herself to fate. Things would have been over for her at this very moment, had it not been for the sound of someone shouting from the cliffside up above.

**"Fading Spark!"**

A yellow beam of destruction bolted downwards, shining and surging as it sparked to the ground. It set its sights straight on Aversa, blasting towards her. Just before the bolt was to electrocute her, Aversa raised her left hand up, shouting back at the cliff.

"Wilting Gust!" A green wave of wind stormed forward from her palm, clashing violently with the thunderbolt at point-blank range. Aversa grunted as she pushed back against the blast, lifting her other arm. Using both hands, her windstorm practically doubled in size, breaking the lightning bolt in half and disintegrating it as the gust flew off into the air, fading into nothing.

"Gotcha!" someone else shouted from above as a dagger was suddenly thrown at her. She screamed as the dagger left a deep cut, letting go of Maribelle for just one moment as she tightly gripped her hand.

Lissa's eyes flared as she quickly seized her chance. She raised her white staff, aiming it straight for Maribelle.

"Rescue!" Her staff shone brightly as Maribelle instantaneously faded into a white light, reappearing right in front of Lissa. Lissa embraced her arms around her friend, breaking into tears as she wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Oh thank gods, Maribelle! I was so scared! I love you!" she said, tightening her embrace. "You're with me now! I won't let you won't be killed today!"

Maribelle gasped as her face blushed completely red. "Y-you love me?"

"You're my best friend! I'll always love you!" Lissa let out a sob before giving her a long kiss on the cheek, a kiss made from desperation and relief.

"Oh, you meant in the familial sense," Maribelle said, weakly chuckling. "Regardless, I love you all the same." She warmly returned the hug, pulling away quickly. "But this is no time for hugging. We must all leave now!" Lissa nodded, taking her by the arm as they became the first two to head down the mountain.

"Everyone! Retreat!" Emmeryn shouted immediately. The Shepherds turned around, rushing down the mountain in a slightly disorderly fashion. With how quickly things broke out, it was no surprise. Marth breathed in a shaky breath as he pulled his own Queensfang out from his sheath, ready to play his part.

"Ghh… Forgive me Lord Gangrel," Aversa said, clutching on to her bleeding, wounded hand. "I should have been more careful with that woman."

"Damn it!" Gangrel cursed. "We should've known they had a Rescue mage with them! Aversa, fall back and tell our people that war has been declared. Soldiers! After them!"

* * *

It was a lot easier to run down the mountain than to climb up it, still, Reflet realized she did not like having to run for this long. Thanks to how quickly the war broke out, they had a head start against their enemies, but who knows how long it would be before they caught up. She turned around, seeing Chrom take on a squad of three soldiers all on himself, cutting all of them down before he sprinted back to his horse, getting back on it and riding his way to the front of the pack.

Between her height and lack of endurance, it was no surprise that she was trailing behind most of the Shepherds. She found herself in a group with Marth, Lon'qu and Kellam, all three facing their opponents chasing them down.

"Incoming!" Kellam shouted. The first group of enemies reached them. Kellam took on an axeman head on, bashing him in the head with his shield. The axeman laid there, cold as Kellam looked past him, his attention focused on what was ahead.

"You're mine!" a swordsman shouted as he reached them, clashing blades with Marth. Marth struggled to push the blade backwards, eventually overpowering the man and disarming him.

"Hyaahh!" Marth shouted. He thrusted his blade into the man's chest, quickly pulling it out before stabbing him another time. The man quickly fell to the floor, as still as the other man on the floor. Marth began to pant heavily, staring at the blade in his hand.

"Marth? What's wrong?" she asked him. Marth's arms began to shake as he shook his head rapidly, looking forward with horror.

"He's just killed for the first time," Lon'qu said, taking the life of a Plegian lancer. "Keep moving backwards! We can't afford to slow down!"

"Reflet! Incoming!" Kellam shouted. Reflet shot her eyes forward to see a swordswoman charging at her, shouting a battle cry with her sword pointed at her.

"Thunder!" she said, quickly raising her palm up. She fired a bolt off only for the swordswoman to weave around it as she closed the gap between them. The swordswoman raised her blade, ready to kill her with her first attack.

"Eep!" In a panic, Reflet closed her eyes as she fired straight into her enemy's eyes. "Flash!" she said. The swordfighter screamed in pain as she closed her own eyes, pulling back on her attack. Reflet shouted as she pulled out her dagger, stabbing her in the left side of her chest. She yanked the blade out just as quickly as it entered, leaving the woman to fall on the floor.

"Help…" The woman said weakly as her head hit the ground. Reflet stared at the woman, feeling a knot in her stomach as the light left her eyes.

"Ah… Ghh—!" Reflet felt something rising through her lungs, and before she knew it she vomited on the floor. Her own body began to shake as she realized what she did. Her breathing grew anxious as she looked all around her, seeing all the bodies of dead people on the floor. She let out a scream, breaking into tears as her dagger slipped from her hand.

"Reflet! Marth! We have to keep moving!"

"Lon'qu, pick Reflet up!"

"Shouldn't you pick her up?"

"I'm bigger! We're faster this way!"

Their words were drowned out by the rush of noise in her head. The only thing she could hear was her own screaming, until Lon'qu managed to come into view.

"We need to leave! Can you still run?"

"Huh?"

"There's no time for this!" Lon'qu clenched his teeth, crouching to pick something up before lifting her up. He made a break to reach the rest of the Shepherds alongside Kellam, their mages and archers providing cover for them.

* * *

Having to carry a girl was, to say the least, not ideal. Lon'qu held onto Reflet and her dagger, barely able to keep his fear of women in check long enough to do his job. He and his allies managed to gain more distance against their enemies, and by now they reached the split between the short route and the long one. But their enemies had horse riders with them, and they'd arrive soon.

The queen gave out another order to them. "Frederick, Chrom, lead our riders through the long route. We'll split our groups up and meet at the Palace!"

Frederick readied his war horse, turning to the queen. "Promise me you will stay safe, Emmeryn."

"I have complete faith in the Shepherds' ability to protect me and themselves," Emmeryn said. "Now go!" Their riders split off from the group, taking the long road while the queen led them down the short one path.

From behind, he could hear the king shouting. "Dammit! Lieutenant Vasto, send your wyvern riders and our infantry after the Exalt!" Gangrel turned to one of the Plegian cavalry riders. "And you! Lend me your horse, I'm going after the prince!"

A brunette-haired man landed down behind Gangrel, riding on the back of a dust-red wyvern. "Sure thing, boss. Leave it to me, we'll catch these guys in a flash." His wyvern flapped its wings, soaring back into the air.

Now that he reached the main group, Lon'qu looked for someone to give this girl to. He spotted that red-haired girl he fought before, Cordelia, and rushed up to her.

"Here," he said as he put the girl in her arms.

"Huh?" Cordelia said as she grabbed the girl, letting him draw his blade again. "Hey! Did you just dump her on me without saying anything?"

"Yes I did. Thank you," he said. He looked back at their enemies behind them. About half of them either retreated or were killed, leaving only about fifteen left to fight. His group, however, only had about eleven or so people, and even fewer who could still do battle. They were in a not-too spacious corridor, with only one way in and one way out. The only reason their enemies weren't rushing at them now was thanks to the narrow sightlines keeping them at bay from their rangers. He looked up to the sky, counting three wyvern riders against their two pegasus knights. While the pegasus fliers were able to fend off two of the wyverns, the third slipped past them, dropping to the ground with a loud stomp. Its rider was Vasto, the man from before.

"Alright, guess it's time for a battle." Vasto stood on the back of his wyvern, pointing his axe at them. "Charge at them, everyone!" The Plegian squad roared their battle cries, rushing through the pathway as they closed the distance.

"We'll hold them off! Everyone else, leave!" Lon'qu shouted to the other Shepherds. He turned to Kellam who now had his hands free. Kellam nodded at him, rushing over to where he was and standing guard with his heavy shield raised.

"Hey! Don't think you're going to hog the glory for yourself here!" someone said as they gave him a hard pat on the back. He turned his head to see the blonde Feroxi who kept calling him a bastard.

"It's you," he said, scrunching his nose up.

"Yeah, I'm still pissed with you, too! But right now, we're allies and we need to do this together!" Vaike said, raising his axe.

"Hmph." He looked back to see the Shepherds getting away, then forwards as the wave of enemies finally reached them. "Stay close to each other, and don't get surrounded!" The three of them fought together, taking on the enemy forces. A red-haired and another blue-haired archer stayed behind, still firing off arrows and taking out some of their opponents for them.

"How are we going to get these guys off of us?" Vaike said.

Lon'qu set his sights on the rider giving out orders. "We need to break their chain of command."

"And take out that guy on the dragon? That's a _dragon._ You know, a big, fire-breathing flying lizard?"

"It's a wyvern," he argued, raising his finger. "Wyverns have two feet and they don't breathe fire. And it's the quickest way to get these guys to stop."

"You're a crazy bastard, you know that?" Vaike shook his head, getting ready to charge. "Fine, let's do it. Go!" The three rushed at the lieutenant, with Lon'qu and Vaike splitting up to take him from the sides. Kellam shielded them from any stragglers who sought to charge at them, ensuring they'd only have to worry about the wyvern and it's rider.

"Hey!" Vasto said. His wyvern took off, hovering above them as it flapped its wings, kicking up a wave of dust in their direction.

"Blegh!" Vaike said as they all covered their faces. The wyvern landed back down as Vasto swung his axe. Lon'qu dodged before it could hit him, striking the rider in the arm. The rider grunted as the wyvern suddenly spun around, swiping him in the chest with its tail and knocking him down. He coughed violently, finding out that that tail was as strong as a heavy club.

"Damn it!" Vaike shouted as he watched Lon'qu get injured. He grabbed the rider by the leg, yanking him off the wyvern and bringing him to the ground, axe and all.

The rider quickly got back up, readying his axe. "Crap!" He stepped forward, swiping at Vaike's face with the blunt end of his axe before poking him in the chest for a knockdown. Lon'qu got back on his feet, rushing to help only for the wyvern to spin around again, swiping with its claws.

"Back off!" Kellam jumped in the way to block the blow with his greatshield, stabbing his lance through its tough underbelly in retaliation.

"Gale! Are you okay buddy?" Vasto shouted, reaching out for his wyvern. The wyvern roared in pain, sweeping its tail once more. Kellam steadied himself, taking the hit with his shield as he was pushed backwards, being mostly unharmed as he made the wyvern shriek again with another thrust.

"This isn't looking too good for us, Gale!" Vasto said as he looked around, seeing more of his allies retreating. He found himself on the defensive as Vaike got back up, pushing against him as he tried to reach his wyvern. Before Vaike could land a clean hit, he already hopped back on Gale, who flapped his wings as he took to the air once again.

"We're losing the edge in this battle!" he shouted, raising his hands up. "Soldiers, fall back!" With that, he and his wyvern took off alongside the remaining Plegians, taking their wounded with them.

"He's ending the battle early?" Vaike said, rubbing his bruises as he watched them run off.

"It's better for us," Lon'qu said. "We don't want to face reinforcements, and we can't afford to lose our commanders." He turned around, facing the other two Shepherds who decided to stick behind. "We're leaving! Get to our commander!" The five of them took off, sprinting down the mountain to catch up with the rest.

* * *

While Emmeryn led her group down the shortcut, Chrom led the others following him down the mountain path at blitzing speeds, desperate to escape their enemies. He was not in the mood for anything today. First it was Cordie, then Ricken, and now Gangrel? Things just keep piling on and on today. He sped his horse up as he tried to widen the gap between them, dodging an arrow from behind from a bow knight. Gangrel and his cavalry were gaining on them, for sure. He could come at him if he dared, Chrom was more than eager to fight if he had too.

Chrom looked up above, spotting two people riding horses down the side path that lead to a cliff above them. They linked up with his horse, angering Chrom as he noticed the blue hat on one of the riders.

"What the hell?!" he said.

"You can say thank you now," Ricken said. He looked at him with both contempt and satisfaction in his eyes. In his hand was a crackle of thunder, cementing himself as the one who fired at Aversa.

"Ricken, what the hell are you doing, _"_ he said as he clenched his teeth.

"Not listening to you for once! I'm sick of you leaving me behind all the time!"

Chrom looked at the other man who was spinning a dagger in his hand, throwing his hands up. "And Asugi, you let this happen?" he said scoldingly.

Asugi pushed the flat side of the dagger onto his palm with his thumb as he raised his hand defensively. "Hey, I wouldn't be able to stop him even if I tried. I'm only here to keep him safe."

Chrom groaned, turning back to Ricken. He was really not in the mood to put up with this at this moment. "I can't believe you went against my orders, Ricken! Do you know how dangerous this is?"

"Yes I do, and look what it got us!" he argued. "Now, let's stop arguing and fight. Watch this!" Ricken turned around, raising his book and pointing behind him.

"Fading Spark!" He shot a thunderbolt at one of the cliffs above them, breaking off chunks of rock as the cliff crumbled. The rocks tumbled down the mountain, halting most of Gangrel's riders from chasing them. However, it did nothing to stop Gangrel and a few other knights, who managed to slip past before the rocks fell.

Ricken dusted his book off, putting it away. "That should make things easier. We need to get out of here, fast!"

"Frederick!" Chrom shouted at his retainer riding ahead. "How much further until we escape?"

"It's not too long until we reach the mountain's base," he replied. "Sully! Sol! To me!" The red and green knight formed a line with the blue knight, turning around to engage three Plegian riders behind them. Their skill and teamwork overwhelmed their opponents, knocking down two riders and stabbing the third, cleanly taking them out of the fight.

The bow knight shot another arrow at Asugi, missing as the butler swerved out of the way. Asugi retaliated by throwing a dagger at the knight and striking him in the chest, sending him tumbling off the horse. By now, the Plegian army had been reduced to roughly the same amount of horse riders as they had, evening things out. Gangrel, however, charged forward past the line, closing the gap and reaching just behind Chrom.

"Come now, Prince! I won't stop until I have you in chains!" Gangrel drew the rapier from his scabbard, lunging at him. Chrom parried the blade, bouncing it away as he slashed back. Gangrel ducked underneath, bringing his horse closer as he stabbed again, pulling the blade back before tackling Chrom's horse with his own. Chrom was sent off his horse, hitting the dirt and getting covered in it alongside some scrapes.

"Finally," Gangrel said. "Soldiers, after the others!" He stopped his horse, dropping down as he approached him. "Get up so we can fight!"

Chrom picked himself off the ground, dusting himself off. "Fine, have at it you bastard!" He rushed at him, slashing forward only for Gangrel to slip underneath, retaliating with a kick to the knees. Gangrel picked himself off the ground with a roll, cutting him in the chest on the way up.

"What's wrong? Can't hit me, prince?" Gangrel laughed as he flourished his blade. He lunged back in, tripping him up with a feint before he went for a punch to his stomach. Chrom got the wind taken out of him, stumbling backwards as Gangrel began to laugh.

"Kehahahah! This is far too easy!" Gangrel said. "I had expected you to at least give me a challenge!"

Suddenly a cut appeared on Gangrel's shoulder, cutting his laughter short.

"Ghh!" he grunted, clutching his arm as he glared at his attacker.

"Hey, don't think we're just gonna let you fight alone." Asugi walked over to where Chrom was, spinning another dagger between his fingers. "We can't have you dying on us, Blue, or else who's gonna help lead Iris? Not me, that's for sure. I wouldn't do it even if you gave me all the dough in the world." He picked him off the ground, throwing another dagger at Gangrel. The king quickly dodged out of the way, only to land himself in the path a thunderbolt.

"Kyahh!" Gangrel screamed in pain as he was struck once again in the arm. Ricken joined the two of them, his hand crackling with lightning.

"We're gonna get you through this Chrom," Ricken said, turning to Gangrel. "You're outnumbered. Retreat, or you'll have to take on the three of us if you tske another step."

"Hmph." Gangrel scoffed, clutching his bleeding, singed arm. "Looks like you'll be safe for another day, prince. Soldiers, fall back, we're leaving."

Gangrel got back on his horse, ordering his soldiers to retreat. The remaining soldiers stopped fighting immediately as they followed him, finally giving them the chance to escape.

"Chrom! On your horse! We're leaving!" Freddy ordered. Chrom nodded, riding the rest of the way towards Iris and getting the hell out of there.

* * *

Chrom reached Iris before Emmeryn and the others got there. The only ones with him were Freddy, Sol, Sully, Asugi and… Ricken.

Chrom stood at a table in the barracks, away from everyone else. Ricken gave him a tense look from his chair, waiting to see what he would say.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" he said.

Ricken brought one hand to his heart as he defended his actions. "I saved Maribelle!"

"You went against my orders and acted on your own," He said, speaking in the sternest tone he could make. He was not happy with the young man in any capacity.

"Well that's only because you have never trusted me enough to go on a mission before! You know I'm one of the strongest we have! I'm stronger than Lissa, Maribelle, Reflet, maybe even Miriel! And I can hold my own in a swordfight!"

"It's not about strength. I've said it before, you're too you—"

"I don't believe that!" Ricken said, cutting him off. "You've told me you've gone on missions when you were twelve!"

Chrom winced, having been caught off guard.

"You've fought bandits when you were even younger than I am now!" Ricken said, not giving him a moment to speak as he continued to pressure him. "If you can do it, why can't I?"

"Just because I do something doesn't mean you should be like me!" he countered, finding the space to argue back.

"But why though?" Ricken said as he clenched his fist and shook his head. "You're strong, brave, and you know how to lead us! We all look up to you, shouldn't we try to be more like you?"

"Well then you're making a mistake!"

"But why? Why am I making a mistake just because I want to be like you?"

"Because I got my mom killed!" he yelled at Ricken, slamming the table.

The both of them fell silent. Chrom looked his friend in the eyes. He'd been scared and anxious the entire time.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled," Chrom said. "Ricken, I want to tell you something." He sat down, taking his seat. "When I was just about to turn ten during the first Plegian-Ylissean War, I was a fool. The biggest fool in the world. I was such a fool that I thought I could end the war on my own so that everyone could be happy. One day my mom took us to Dawnbreak, her hometown. She used to always take us there, and that's actually how we met so many of the Shepherds. Sol, Sumia, Vaike, those are just a few who spent their childhoods there. Have you ever been to Dawnbreak before?"

Ricken held a frown on his face, minimizing eye contact. "No, I haven't been outside of Iris. I haven't known what it's like yet." His voice was quiet now. He softly tapped the table with a finger, looking remorseful.

"On that day, there was a bandit raid that took place in our village," he said. "A bandit raid just like any other. We didn't know who they were or what country they were from, but we knew they were there to attack us. They used the fact that the war was going on to overwhelm us, knowing that any soldiers or fighters we might have had were already fighting on the battlefield. But at the time, I was even more reckless and a fool than I am now. I thought I was strong enough to take them on, even though my mom told me not to get involved." He breathed in, sighing before he spoke. "And so, like a fool, I charged into the battle instead of letting my mom handle the situation on her own. Ricken, do you know who my mom was?"

"Iris…" Ricken answered. "She shared a name with the city. I would see her whenever my parents would come visit the palace. She always baked cookies for me, telling me to go share them with you and Lissa and everyone else."

"My mom was a wonderful, sweet, and amazing person," he said. "She had the power to brighten everyone's day. And yes, her cookies were amazing." Chrom chuckled, only to let out another sigh. "Iris was a lot like how Emmeryn is now. She looked after her family and took care of those who couldn't take care of themselves. The poor, starving and injured, Iris didn't care who they were or their backgrounds, she would heal everyone who needed her. I loved her, everyone loved her."

He balled his fist, opening it back up as he set it on the table. "And like the fool I am, I got my mom killed that day. I went straight for the bandit leader, without realizing there was a bandit behind me." He sniffled, starting to cry a little. "They threw a dagger at my back, taking me out before I could do anything. My mom had to dive in and rescue me. She healed me immediately before burning the thief who hit me with flame magic. But that was when the bandit chief snuck behind her, stabbing her through the chest. She died right then and there. In that one instant, my mom was gone. I picked up the sword my mom dropped and stabbed into the guy's heart… But nothing could compare to the stab in my heart when I looked down and saw her dead..."

He sniffed the air to clear his nose, wiping the tears off his face. "So that day was the day I lost her. I lost her because of my mistakes." He looked back at Ricken. "And when I see you, I see too much of myself. I see the impulsiveness that led me to rush in. I see the overconfidence that made me overestimate myself. You're a great friend of mine, and a powerful ally. But I just don't want something like that to happen again."

Ricken lowered his head, further avoiding Chrom's eyes. "I… I get it now Chrom. I understand why you're defensive about this now." He breathed in as he raised his head back up, his gaze finally meeting Chrom's own. "But Chrom, I don't want you to hold me back anymore. I can handle myself, and I know it's dangerous, but I just want to be able to use my abilities to save people. And I did do that! I saved Maribelle when we might not have had the chance otherwise! I want to fight to protect others, and I want this war to end just as quickly as it started!"

He put a hand on Ricken's shoulder, softly patting his younger friend. "Sorry, you're right. In my desire to protect you, I have neglected you, and I have neglected trusting you. I'm not going to hold you back anymore, Ricken."

The two of them hugged one another. Ricken finally relaxed, smiling back at Chrom.

"But Ricken," he said as he pulled away. "I need you to make one promise to me."

"Yeah?" Ricken said.

"Promise that you'll keep yourself safe, and that you'll come out alive in this war. You're my friend, and you have a long life ahead of you. I don't want to see it cut short because of our mistakes."

"Yeah Chrom. Thank you." Ricken sniffled, taking his hand as he made his promise.

"So what now?" Ricken asked.

Chrom crossed his arms over his head, letting out a sigh as he looked towards the entrance of the Palace. "I suppose all we can do is wait for the others to arrive." Emmeryn wouldn't be happy with him once she'd arrive. He headed back to the front of the palace, knowing what was going to come next.

* * *

The second he was given a chance to slip away from the crowd, he rushed straight to his room,He had killed someone. Dear gods, he had _killed_ someone.

Marth laid in his blanket, holding on to his right arm. Tears streamed onto the bed as he struggled to come to terms with everything he just went through. The war, the killings, everything. Lon'qu was right, no amount of foresight could prepare him for this. "Gods… Dear Naga, forgive me…"

The door creaked open. "Mar-Mar? Is this our room…?"

He didn't know whether he should answer her or just lay there sniffling. His body chose the latter for him. Reflet had taken a seat on his bed, sitting upright. Her eyes were dark and sunken, looking at him as if she was lost.

"While we were battling, I noticed you started acting up ever since you killed your first enemy," she said. "I was wondering why that was, and then I killed my own first enemy. That made me realize why, why you got the way you did." She put a hand to his cheek and stroked it, her tiny hand cold yet soothingly warm at the same time.

"I think today was the first time I've ever killed someone. The closest I think I've come to that was the day Chrom found me. We had to stop a bunch of bandits who were harming innocent people, but we never killed any of them." Reflet looked down at her left hand. It shook even now, with her clutching it with the other. "When my dagger stabbed her, I was horrified. I didn't realize that I'd have to do something like this. I hate it. I hate this. I hate killing people. I don't want to kill another person." Reflet started shedding tears, letting out quiet sobs.

Marth got up from his bed, sitting up as he looked at the other crying girl. He took her hand off his face, resting it on his leg.

"I'm sorry Reflet."

He put his thumb to her cheek, wiping her tears away as more streamed down. He brought her closer to him, giving her a soft hug the same way she'd done for him. As she looked down at the bed, he took off his mask, embracing her tighter as he cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Can you believe we're like 3 months into Pale's lifespan? Surprising. In other news, I'm going to go back and see if I can update a few chapters to raise their quality and make things more consistent with my current and future plans. Thank you so much for reading this far!


	11. For Futures

Lucina held the Queensfang in her hand, or rather what remained of it. In all her life she never would have believed such an incredible weapon could shatter into pieces. All that was left was its white blade, seemingly the only part that wasn't destroyed.

Her cousin entered the courtyard where she stood. "Lucina! Brady told me to tell you that everyone's healed up!"

"...Thank you Owain," she said quietly.

Owain approached her, his jaw dropping as he noticed what was in her hands. "Woah, is that the Queensfang?"

"What's left of it. That revenant that attacked us completely destroyed it. I don't think the Queensfang will ever see another day's use."

"Hmm… Let me see that blade, please?" he asked.

She handed him the blade, letting Owain fiddle with it. He rotated it in every direction, inspecting every corner.

"I'm going to borrow this for a second. Come with me!" Owain grabbed her hand, dragging her all the way to their room.

"Owain, what are you doing?" she asked.

"There should be a…" he trailed off as he moved to one of their bookshelves, looking for a book. "A-hah! Here we go!" He took out a book with a green cover and flipped through it. He then closed the book with one hand, smiling at her.

"Give me a few hours!" he said as he left the room. Hours passed and Owain had not returned, leaving Lucina to wait in confusion. Once he finally returned, he opened the door slightly, hiding his face behind it.

"Guess who's helping his cousin out!" He swung the door open to reveal himself alongside a fully repaired Queensfang in his hand.

"Oh my gods!" she said. "You repaired it?"

"Yep! Check it out!" He tossed the sword over to her. Lucina caught it, her eyes widening once she actually looked at and felt the blade within her hand.

"It looks… different." The sword itself was lighter, much lighter than how it was before it broke. It was also shorter, and thinner even. That made it easier for her to hold in one hand. The hilt was dramatically different, with a crossguard which covered much more of her hand than before. The final change was to the center of the guard, which now held a brilliant blue gem in the middle.

"Do you like it?" her cousin said as he gave her the book in his other hand. "This book is called Three-Hundred, Fifty-Eight-and-a-half Weapons. Take a look at page forty-five, do you notice anything?"

She flipped to the page, finding a picture of Marth and the Queensfang in black and white

"The Queensfang looks exactly like how it did back then,"

"Yep! When you told me your Queensfang broke, I had to double check. It turns out that only the dragon fang of the Queensfang is indestructible. As for the hilt, it's been destroyed and replaced countless times throughout history. Sooo I got a little creative and I made this as a little present for my cousin."

A smile broke on her face as she held the sword closer to her. "Thank you Owain. It's absolutely perfect." She gave him a tight hug, letting out a small delighted squeal.

"Don't worry about it. I know how much you admire Marth, so I just wanted to do something that would cheer you up. Whenever the Queensfang needs another repair, I've got your back." His cousin hugged her back, patting her head before pulling away.

"It's so beautiful Owain," Lucina said, turning the blade to admire its shining surface. "I can't believe you recreated it so perfectly."

"Umm, not exactly," he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

Owain scratched his head. "Take a look at the gem in the middle."

She squinted, trying to look at it closer. "I don't see anything wrong with it." she said.

"There's nothing wrong with it, but the original gem was a red ruby. I couldn't find any of those around the palace, however, so I used the gem my mom gave to me instead."

Lucina gasped, staring back at him. "Owain, that was the last thing she gave to you. I can't take this." She gave the weapon back to him, however he resisted, pushing it back to her.

"It's fine Lucina, you're my cousin."

"A-are you sure?" she said, hesitation in her voice. "She wanted you to have it more than anything else."

"I know it'll be safe if it's with you, so don't worry about it. This way no matter what happens, I'll always have your back." He hugged her again, sitting beside her on the bed.

"If you're sure that's what you want." Lucina looked down at the gem, touching the radiant sapphire softly. "Then thank you, Owain. I will make sure to treasure it."

"Of course," he said.

After that, he looked around the room, tapping his fingers on the blanket. "So…" he said, his eyes wandering back to her. "What's it like wielding a Legendary Relic? I've never wielded one myself."

"It's… very powerful," she said, holding the sword on her lap. "It's stronger than most blades, yet is still very lightweight. Uncle Freddy had told me I had yet to unlock its true power, but I can already feel the difference between wielding an ordinary sword and wielding this."

"That sounds awesome…" Owain said, his mouth hanging open.

"I can't thank you enough for this Owain, is there a way I can repay you?" she asked.

"Actually, there is! Ahem." Owain began to pose, raising his left hand to his face and stretching his other arm extravagantly. "Bring me the Mystletainn so that the Scion of Hezul may use it to fell each and every one of his foes! By my honor, with it I shall protect Ylisse to my very last breath!"

He released the pose, giving her a smile. "I'm joking, I couldn't ask that of you." He sat back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Still, it's my dream to find the Mystletainn. You wield the Queensfang, so you know how it is to fight with a weapon like that. I want to find the weapon that's made for me."

"I understand, Owain," she said, smiling. "I thought the speech was nice, by the way."

"Really?" He brought his fists to his chest. "Thank you! I'm working on it." He got up from his seat, stretching his hand out again. "So my fellow scion of legend, care to join me in the art of theatrics?"

"I've never tried acting before though, are you sure you want me to?" she said, giving him a nervous look.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Just follow my lead. I'll say your lines, and you say them back to me. Don't worry about how I feel, think about how you feel. Now, say this line." He coughed into his sleeve, speaking dramatically, "'By the white flame of Tiki! Smite down my enemies into oblivion!"

"Oh, umm, by the flames of Tiki's smite." She tilted her head, trying to remember what he said to her. "Wipe my enemies into... oboes?"

That wasn't right at all, which was proven true by Owain's hard laughter.

"I'm sorry about that," she said. "I guess I'm not cut out for theatrics."

"No-no!" Owain hugged her, still chuckling. "It's just that what you said was hilarious. Trust me, I've said worse when I started this."

"You did?" she asked. "You always seem to deliver your lines so effortlessly."

"I think the first line I ever botched was…" He stopped, raising his finger as he spoke, 'I'll head home now, mother. Please meet me at the cock behind the river."

"…Pfft," Lucina snickered, unable to hold her laughter. "Ahahaha!"

"See?" Owain smiled. "Don't worry about making a mistake. Just keep going. You're bound to get better at it with time." He pointed his hand to her. "Now, let's try something simpler. Repeat after me. I'll head home now, mother. Please meet me at the rock behind the river."

"Okay, Owain." She smiled back, raising her own fists as she tried again. "I'll head home now mother… please meet me by the…"

* * *

How long had it been since he'd last been scolded like this? It might've been six months ago at the least. That was when he accidentally busted a hole into the wall of the women's baths during a training session. He winced, being reminded of the soap bar thrown at his eye. "Swords and bathrooms do not mix." That was the lesson ingrained into the back of his head by his older sister.

So now he was sitting in a chair, staring at his sister and occasionally at his retainer leaning on the wall beside her. Emm crossed her arms, closed her eyes and exhaled. The signal that meant she was deeply furious with him. Freddy gave him a quiet, stern look, but he was unsure of Freddy's true thoughts on the matter.

Emm opened her eyes. "Chrom, do you understand what you have just done?"

He let out a deep breath. There were a lot of things he could've replied with, but saying nothing and letting her speak first was probably the best way to respond right now.

"Now we're at war, Chrom," she continued, taking her seat. "Do you remember how much our people suffered during the last one? How much we suffered trying to make everything right after what our father did?"

"Of course I remember it," he said. "I remember every single day of that time clearly. I know how it treated our people, and how it treated you, me, Freddy and Liz. There's no way I can forgive him for what he did to all of us."

Emm quietly tapped a finger on her elbow like his old math teacher. "So then you see why I'm upset with your actions today?"

"And what was I supposed to do? Should I have done nothing while he hurled insults at me?" he said, arguing back. "While Gangrel accuses my friend, _our_ friend of trying to instigate a war? Gangrel wanted this war and you know it! That's why he sent his men to attack our borders! That's why he took Maribelle and claimed she was their assailant! And for what purpose would he need the Queensfang for? I'll tell you the reason. So that we wouldn't have a way to protect ourselves once the war started!"

Emm narrowed her eyebrows as she put a finger to her forehead. She drank some of the tea from her teacup, eyeing the liquid before setting it back down. "...We don't have all the information to say whether Gangrel's intentions are as you believe them to be."

"Well, I say we know well enough!" he fired at her. "There was no way to avoid this war, and you know it!"

"No we don't!" Emm fired back. "I believe that had we talked things out there would've been a way to avoid this conflict!"

"Oh yeah?" he asked. "How could we with the way he was acting?"

Emm looked down at the table while she bit on her lip, eventually clicking her tongue. "I'll admit, I didn't like the way he was speaking to you and to us," she said before looking back at him. "But I don't believe he was trying to start a war either. If his intentions were really to start a war as you say, then he wouldn't have acted the way he did during the start of our conversation."

"Why in the world would you even try to believe that?" Chrom scrunched his face up, looking at her in bewilderment.

"Because I don't want us to repeat the same mistakes our father made!" His elder sister slammed her hand down on the table, getting out of her seat. "Allowing anger to drive us to kill others is exactly what we need to avoid! It misrepresents the peace we've been working for! As the queen and ruler of this country, I have a duty to my people to protect their lives at all cost! And I have a duty to the world to protect others from the hell that is war!"

Emm huffed an exhausted breath, getting back in her seat. "Look, I understand why you acted the way you did, but please, trust in me next time."

The look Emm gave him told him that they were done arguing. She put a hand on her head, huffing again as she took a large sip of tea.

The two stayed silent for a while, until Emm looked him in the eye again. "As a queen, I am quite frustrated with your actions today," she said, giving him a small smile. "But as your sister, I'm proud to see you stand up for our friend. I know that you were only trying to do what was right."

"Thank you," he muttered, resting his chin on his hand. He was just as much burnt out and done with the argument as she was, he thought to himself as he poured some tea. His sister's eyes softened as she leaned back in her chair, resting her neck as she brought her teacup closer to her.

"You're welcome," she said, sipping her tea. "Now, what's got my brother so upset from earlier? Remember this morning when you said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Huh? Oh, oh…" A frown formed on his face as he lowered his head. "It's Cordie…"

"Oh." Emm took a long sip of her tea. "Then I presume that things haven't got any better since the last time we talked about her?"

"It did for a little while, until it didn't." Chrom leaned back in his chair, looking down at his tea as he drank it.

"Aww, do you want to talk about it with me?" Emm put a hand on his shoulder and raised her other hand. "Freddy, could you fetch us more tea please? Ooh, and maybe a snack?"

"Chocolates?" Freddy said.

Emm smiled. "Yes please."

"Of course, Milady." Freddy nodded as he took Emm's tray from the table, leaving the two alone for the time being.

"Freddy is a sweetheart," Emm said, taking another sip of tea.

"It's just that I keep fu— screwing up around her," Chrom said.

Freddy returned with a refill of tea and chocolates. "Here you go, my lord and lady." He sat down next to Emm, handing her a chocolate.

"Thank you Freddy," Emm said, gingerly taking it from him.

Chrom took one of the white chocolate biscuits for himself. "...These are good," he said as he munched it down, putting his hand on the table. "Things just get worse and worse with her. Now she won't talk to me _and_ she's mad at me. What should I do, Emm?" He swallowed his biscuit as he filled her in on everything that happened at Ferox, catching her up to speed.

"Hmm…" Emm said, turning to Freddy. "What do you think, Freddy?"

"Me, uhh— what?" Freddy suddenly coughed repeatedly, hitting his chest as he tried to calm down. "Ahem, Why me?"

"Well, aren't you great with girls?" Emm said. She grinned as she put her hand on her cheek, inching closer to him.

"Me? Great with girls?" Freddy coughed even harder, raising an eyebrow at her as he took a slow sip of tea.

"Yeah, Liz told me that you're really great with girls," she said with a giggle. "She said that girls can't get enough of you!"

"L-Lissa said that? W-when did she say that? Which girl did she talk about?" Freddy's cheeks grew a bright shade of red as he finally cleared his throat, keeping his face behind his arm. This was news to Chrom, he never expected his best friend to be popular with women.

"Yeah Emm, which girl?" Chrom asked, leaning closer.

"All of them!" Emm said, leaning further in her chair until she was right next to Freddy. "Right?" She winked at him, slowly putting her hand on his arm as she lowered it away, revealing to her his lips and flushed face. She broke off a piece of her chocolate, putting it between her fingers as she slowly raised it up to his lips. She slid her piece into his mouth with her index finger, pressing on his lips before planting a long kiss on his cheek. Freddy looked at her as she leaned back in her chair, staying still as he hummed with his mouth open.

"Woah, all the girls? That's like…" Chrom stopped, counting with his fingers. "Seven girls, at least! Freddy, I gotta say, I'm a little impressed." If Freddy was this good with women, then maybe his advice would actually give him a chance at fixing his relationship with Cordie.

"So, as the resident expert of girls, what advice would you give to my little brother, Freddy?" Emm said.

"I uhh… I-I don't know." Frederick raised his hands up hesitantly. "What do you want from me, Emmy?"

Emm fed another block of chocolate to her best friend. "Hehehe! It looks like we'll have to wait for Freddy to come up with an answer."

"Ga-ahh..." Freddy turned his head away from her, trying to cover his face again.

"Well then, let's get back to the topic of Cordie," Emm said as she sipped her tea. "From the sound of it, she's rather upset with you. If I were you, then I think you should just wait until she comes to talk to you. That way, you can apologize when she's ready to talk."

"If I want to talk to her again I have to not talk to her again?" Chrom pressed his hand onto his cheek, frowning. "But I don't wanna do that, I wanna talk to her again."

"Now-now, Chrom," Emm chided him like mom. "This is so that you two can be friends again, okay?"

"...Fine," he said with a groan, turning his head away and blowing into his other cheek. All this avoiding each other was really starting to eat at him, though. He just hoped things would get better soon.

* * *

The afternoon sky might have been clear as day, but a grey cloud lingered around the palace for all the Shepherds. It's true that they'd been expecting this war, and were even preparing for it, but deep down nobody wanted the war to become a reality. Cordelia hoped she wouldn't see another in her lifetime, but it looked like life had other plans.

Looming war or not, she still had to eat and train. She grabbed a meal from the mess hall, wandering around until she found Liz and Maribelle eating together at a small table in the palace garden outside. Having just been kidnapped, it was no surprise that Maribelle held herself close, trying to keep herself together. She certainly wasn't the fierce-willed, somewhat haughty noblewoman she usually saw, but she wouldn't blame her for that. Liz put a hand on Maribelle's shoulder, keeping her comfort. While also not in the best condition, the small grin on her face told Cordelia that she was relieved that her best friend was safe and sound.

"Hey you two. Mind if I join you?" she asked, approaching them.

Liz waved a hand over all the empty seats in front and next to her, motioning her to sit. "Sure, all the seats are free."

Cordelia nodded, sitting across from her. "So, what's going to happen now?"

"We're going to send some of the Pegasus Knights to Ferox to request for aid. Hopefully they'll get here before Gangrel can make his next move."

"The Pegasus Knights, huh?" She gave her a weak smile. "At least we have that going for us, then. This war isn't going to be easy on us, let's just hope we can end this quickly."

"I agree," Maribelle added. "I want this war to be over with just as quickly as it started. I can only hope that our people will be able to bear through it."

Cordelia spotted Reflet entering the garden from the corner of her eye. "Hey everyone," she said, heading over to them.

"Hey, Reflet, wanna join us?" Liz said, waving at her.

Reflet nodded silently, grabbing a tray of food before taking a seat next to Cordelia. Cordelia looked at her, seeing the way she lowered her head and tightly clutched her arm. The way her eyes looked, wide and frightened, told Cordelia that the girl still hadn't recovered from the battle. When Lon'qu gave the girl to her, Reflet was already unconscious from her panic.

"How's Marth?" Liz asked. "I saw you chase after him once we got back. Is he okay?"

"He's taking a nap right now," she said. "He's not doing so good, either."

"I'm sorry for you both," Cordelia said, patting her on the head. Reflet sheepishly played with her bang, turning her eyes away from them.

"I hope he gets better though," Liz said, lowering her eyes. "I don't think having to do something like that would be easy for any of us."

"With the way he carries himself, I imagined he'd be faring better," Maribelle said. "Though I suppose everyone has their limits."

"So, Reflet," Liz said, turning to her. "You're friends with him, right? Do you know what kind of person he's like?"

"I haven't talked much to him either," Cordelia said. Infact, the only person she'd ever seen him interact with was Reflet. He had arrived on the same day that Reflet did, but unlike her, he actively kept his distance between himself and the others.

"Well, he's actually quite sweeter than you'd expect," Reflet said as a smile grew on her face. "He has his reasons for being distant though." Her smile wiped itself away as she looked down at her plate. She swiped her knife into her mashed potatoes, holding it like a weapon

"...What about you all?" she said with a shaky breath. She brought her head up, looking at everyone with her still scared eyes. "Have you all killed before?"

Maribelle looked away from her, holding a worried, considerate look. "Not yet, but given our circumstances, I don't know if that will stay the same for much longer."

"Yeah…" Liz agreed. "I don't want to kill either, but this is war. Our enemies will most likely kill us if we don't fight back." She closed her hand, opening it as she placed it on her elbow.

Cordelia took a deep breath, then turned to face Reflet. "I've killed about two people in my life," she said. "The both of them were bandits who were hiding behind hostages. I had to kill them before they killed more innocent people. I didn't really see another way to stop them."

"...I also killed someone," Reflet said. "Today actually. It was this woman who attacked me. I had to protect myself, so I stabbed her in the chest. After that, she just fell down… She stopped moving." Reflet grabbed her left hand, holding it tight as she focused solely on it. "I was wondering if I could ask someone what it was like for them. Thank you Cordie."

"You're welcome, Reflet," she said, putting a hand on Reflet's shoulder. Reflet didn't say much after that, looking down at her knife as she stayed quiet.

"Listen everyone," Maribelle said, her eyes soft and honest. "I want to thank you all for going out of your way to rescue me."

"Of course, Maribelle, you're our friend after all," Cordelia told Maribelle. "If it was anyone else who was in your position, we'd stick our necks out for them too."

"Yeah, I'm glad you're safe too." Reflet's lips curled slightly as she extended her hand, giving it to Maribelle. "We're all a team, that's what we're here for."

Maribelle looked at her, letting out a small gasp before taking her hand. "...Thank you, Reflet. Perhaps I may have judged you too harshly when we first met."

"Yeah Reflet," Liz said. "Maribelle is the type who's slow to warm up to people, but once she's warmed up to you, she's the sweetest girl you'll ever meet." She smiled at her best friend, bringing Maribelle in for a tight hug.

"Liz!" Maribelle shrieked as she tried pulling away, her face growing flushed. Though embarrassed, the shy smile peeking from the corners of her lips told Cordie that Maribelle was secretly delighted.

"Heheh! Maribelle!" Liz said, rubbing Maribelle's cheek with her own. "Come on! I've hugged you plenty of times before!"

"Liz, please we're in public! You know not to do this!" Maribelle said, her guilty grin growing as she tried to push Liz away from her.

"No, we're inside a palace and the only ones watching us are our friends, Cordie and Reflet!" Liz pulled her back to her, laughing at Maribelle's futile attempts to resist. After much more struggling, she finally gave up, letting Liz have her hug.

"...Fine, but not in front of other people, alright?" Maribelle slowly wrapped her hands around her arm, not-so-secretly enjoying it.

"Yay! I win!" Liz said.

"Aww…" She put her hands on her cheeks, watching the whole thing happen with a grin on her face. "That's so cute," Reflet said.

Liz shrugged her shoulders, tugging on Maribelle. "Well, Maribelle makes a really cute best friend, don't you think?"

"Y-you think I-I'm cute?" Maribelle shied her head away, fanning her burning cheeks. "Darling, why must you say such things…"

Liz poked her on the nose. "Boop, yes you are," she said, poking her again. "Boop." Maribelle grumbled as she hid her face, overwhelmed by the neverending teasing.

"You two really are. Enjoy yourselves," Cordelia said, giving a teasing smile to the lucky noblewoman. She adored just how close her friends were, and if she was being honest with herself, she'd want something like that, too.

"So, Liz, how's Chrom?" Reflet asked. She looked more calm and at ease now, though still somewhat anxious.

Reflet's words brought a sigh to Cordelia's lips. She was still upset with him from earlier. Why did he of all people have to call her that word?

"When I checked, he wasn't doing alright," Liz said. "I haven't had the time to talk to him yet because he's with Emm right now."

Cordelia lowered her head as that day replayed in her head. She didn't want her brain to start running off again. Even thinking about him was enough to upset her.

"Cordie, are you feeling okay?" Reflet asked.

"Huh?" Cordelia blinked. "Me? What's wrong?"

"You're scowling to yourself. Is everything alright?"

"Umm, no, it's just," she sighed again, "I'm still upset with Chrom." It looks like she got too into her thoughts again, and the others had taken notice.

"Was it because of what he did after the tournament?" Liz said.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"My brother's can be a bit thick sometimes," Liz said as she shook her head. "Didn't he ever learn not to call you that?"

Cordelia was about to speak before she stopped herself. She curled a finger between her lips, her eyes turning wide as she gasped. "Actually, no, I haven't told him yet."

Liz furrowed her eyebrows. "Wait, you haven't? Okay, now that makes more sense, because I don't think he'd ever do something like that on purpose."

Cordelia lightly tapped her thumb on her lips as she blew air. Now she felt that her feelings were somewhat misplaced. She shouldn't be faulting him if he didn't know about it in the first place.

"Excuse me," Reflet said, raising her hand up. "What exactly was it that he did to make you mad?"

Cordelia turned to Reflet. "You see, what happened was that he called me a genius, which, when I was in the Pegasus Knights, was something I was bullied with by some of the members of the team." She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "From the moment I joined, they mocked my appearance and my abilities, and everyday they'd shame and haze me for anything I did. The worst one of them was this one girl. She was the leader of the ones who bullied me. 'Little Lady Genius' was what she would call me, or a variant thereof. She would always go 'Oh look, the little genius can't do anything right!" Cordelia said, mimicking her voice. "She would do everything she could just to pick at me. She'd trip me up during practice. If my parents gifted me treats, she would steal them as soon as she could. There were times where she'd even steal my bedsheets, leaving me to spend the night freezing in the winter. You could say some of the things she did were childish, but it still hurt me while I was younger and just starting out."

"Woah, I'm sorry you had that done to you." Reflet leaned closer to her, wrapping her arms around her neck.

"It's alright. It's not something that you had control over." She hugged the girl back. "I guess the word is very touchy for me. That being said, I think I let my emotions get the better of me somewhat. I was angry at him at first, but I can't fault him for not knowing."

"Hey, I get it." Liz said, patting her on the shoulder. "There are times where I've gotten angry at people who weren't exactly trying to hurt me. People are human, we make mistakes all the time. And even then, words like that can still hurt you, or anyone else for that matter."

"Yeah, thanks for listening to me, everyone," Cordelia said.

"Of course, you're my friend, Cordie." Liz gave her a smile. "Now I'm certain that my brother never meant it that way. There's no way he would have tried to call you that to hurt you if he knew what it meant for you."

"My darling is right," Maribelle added. "Though he is rather reckless and impulsive at times, he has never shown me any form of malice in all my time knowing him."

Liz nodded, her grin widening. "Plus, he likes you too much for that."

Her eyes widened as a blush formed on her cheeks. "He likes me?" She leaned closer to Liz. Did she mean like, "like" like? Or just the regular kind of like?

"Yeah, you're his closest friend, remember?" Liz giggled. "Don't tell me you forgot all the times my sister and Freddy scolded you two for sneaking off to the beach together."

"Oh, right," she said, laughing awkwardly. "Yeah, we are best friends." Though, it was probably more accurate to say they used to be best friends. She had been avoiding him for so long, did it still count at this point? In anycase, Liz didn't really give her a clear answer whether he liked her romantically or not, and seemed to hint at the latter.

"So, why haven't you told him about it yet?" Liz said.

"Why haven't I?" Cordelia said, looking away from her as she tried to think of what to say. "Well, between the Pegasus Knights and my own missions for the kingdom, it must have slipped my mind. I haven't really had a chance to talk to him in forever." She left out the part about how her crush made her less and less able to talk to him directly. It was a miracle that she was even able to feel remotely fine around him when they went on their date. The wine did help a little at least, but she wouldn't want to only talk to him when they're fighting or drunk.

"I kind of noticed that," Liz said with a nod. "He's talked about you to me and Emm before, plenty of times, actually."

"He's talked about me before?" she said as she blushed even harder.

"Well duh, of course he has. If Maribelle or anyone suddenly stopped talking to me, I think I'd be worried and upset too. You should try to talk to him a little more. He misses you."

"It's just, I..." she sighed, "I can't do that so easily." At least, not without feeling like a mess internally.

"Why not?" Liz said.

Cordelia softly scratched her cheek. "It's nothing…"

Liz squinted at her, raising her eyebrows. "Is it because you have a huge crush on him?"

"What?!" Cordelia's face burned as she turned away. "No I don't! What makes you say that? I don't like him, or anything like that!"

"Are you sure?" Liz rested her chin on her hand, shaking her head lightly left and right. "Cordie, I know you wanna be with my brother."

Cordelia coughed so violently she nearly choked on her food. Meanwhile, Maribelle stopped eating as she turned to Liz, her eyebrows raised.

"Excuse me?!" Cordelia said, quickly reaching for her water. She chugged it immediately, clearing out her throat. "Who else knows this?"

Liz snickered. "I think the better question might be who doesn't know. I mean, Reflet just joined and I bet even she knows you like Chrom." She turned to her. "Do you Reflet?"

Reflet looked down at her plate when a small blush formed on her cheeks. "Eheh, Basilio told me."

Cordelia's eyes flared. " _He_ told you it? Didn't we just meet him for like, one dinner?"

Reflet shyly nodded. "I thought it was cute, that you liked him, Cordie."

"Oh gods, dear gods kill me now…" Cordelia buried her face into her hands. "You haven't told him have you? Please tell me he doesn't knowww."

Liz shook her head. "No way. That's something between you and my brother. I'm not gonna tell him unless you tell me to tell him."

Cordelia lifted her head up, her flushed cheeks burning less intensely. "Thank you. Gods, I'm not ready to tell him my feelings for him."

"Of course, you should tell him when you're emotionally ready," Maribelle added, looking at Liz. "Naga knows I can't shame a person for not being able to confess."

"Maribelle has it right," Liz said, blinking several times. "Wait, Maribelle do you like someone? Who is it?"

"Erm, no one?" she said, her face as red as Cordelia's own.

"Hmm, alright," Liz said, shrugging her shoulders. "Anyways, you should tell him yourself when you're ready. That's how I feel about it."

"I don't think I should tell him about it, yet," Cordelia said. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he's interested in another person."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Liz asked.

"You know…" She pointed her eyes at Reflet next to her.

Liz looked at Reflet, then at Cordelia, before looking back at Reflet as she snorted out a laugh. "Cordie, I don't think she's very straight."

"Who?" Reflet asked. "And what does straight mean?"

"You're not straight, you silly little lady," Liz said. "Reflet, you start blushing around women, right?"

Reflet looked at the three girls around her before blushing immediately, pulling her hood over her head to hide herself. "Yeah?"

"And you don't blush when you stare at Chrom or other guys like him, right?" she asked.

Reflet shook her head rapidly, her face turning redder.

"That's not a very straight answer, Reflet." Liz leaned closer to her, ruffling the girl's hair. "You see Cordie? There's nothing to worry about with her. Watch, you're gonna see she's about as straight as a rainbow."

"Well I mean," Cordelia said, "perhaps she might not be interested in him, but still, he could have his eye on someone else. He's very popular with women, after all." And men apparently, especially according to TheArtistCurrentlyKnownAsAnna.

"I don't think that's the case," Liz said as she tapped her cheek. "I don't think I've ever seen him interested in another girl. There could be Sumia, but I wouldn't say that's certain. Like I said, you don't have to tell him your feelings, but at the very least you should talk to him about how that word makes you feel. I'm sure he'd apologize on the spot."

"Well, I think you're right about that part." She got out of her seat, having finished her food. "Thank you for the encouragement, Liz. I'll try to get myself to see him when I get the chance."

"No problem. If you ever want to talk to me about your crush on him, I'm always here to talk."

* * *

Marth felt slightly better after his dream, though not by much. Sunset started to take hold as he lifted his head towards the window, seeing the red sky fading into a darker purple. He got out of his bed, making his way over to the mirror in the room. He put a hand on his reflection's face, staring into the Mark of Naga in his left eye.

"This is who I am," her reflection said, staring back at Lucina. "I've spent far too long waiting for and preparing for this day. The whole world and the entire future is counting on me to finish this for the sake of those whose lives were lost and those who have yet to live."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, continuing to stare at her reflection as she thought about everything that led to this point. She was supposed to go back in time, secure Chrom the victory at the tournament, and then ensure tonight would go perfectly before leaving without ever being seen. She largely achieved her goals as of now, but there had been one mistake that never left the back of her head. She needed to ally with Chrom and the Shepherds, putting her at risk of altering more than she needed to by involving herself with them. And worst of all, though she had promised not to say anything of her origins, she had given Emmeryn knowledge of the fact she had come from the future. Were something horrible were to happen to her or her friends because of that, she wasn't sure what she'd do.

But all that mattered first was that the bleak future she lived in could never come to pass. As painful as the thought of something happening to her in the present time as a result, it would be something she'd need to live with.

She looked down at the mask in her hand. This would be the last time she would ever truly need to wear it. Once she was done today, she would no longer have a reason to take on the name Marth ever again.

He put the mask back on his face, staring at his reflection one last time before heading out of the room. He opened the door, unexpectedly finding Lon'qu standing in front of it.

"Lon'qu?" he said. "What do you need?"

Lon'qu raised his hand, showing him a dagger. "The girl dropped this. I'm here to return it."

"Thank you. I'll leave it here for her." Marth took the dagger from him, placing it on the table.

He closed his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry you went through that." He began to walk away from him, stopping as he made a half turn.

"You fight well," he said, smirking at him. "Let's fight again."

"Thank you again," he said, slightly nodding his head with a smile. Lon'qu left the building, heading off to the training yard.

Marth took a deep breath, preparing his things before finally heading out the door and to the hallway. He lowered his head as he reached inside his pocket, pulling out a small, silver key and raising it up to his eyes. It was merely an ordinary key, but it was vital for his plans to succeed tonight. He put it back in his pocket, reaching the main hallway. It was completely empty, save for one other person who entered from the other side, Reflet. She took notice of him, giving him a smile before quickly walking over to him.

"Marth, you're awake!" Her eyes looked tired from the events of today, though livelier than earlier. She leaned closer to him before reaching up to his shoulders, wrapping her arms around him. A small, soft warmth started to form in his chest as she hugged him, much like how a ray of light felt.

"Thank you, for being there for me earlier," she said.

"Thank you as well, Reflet," Marth said.

Reflet pulled herself away from him, frowning once she saw his face. "You're looking tense," she said. "Are you still worried about having to… you know."

He shook his head. "Though that is true, there is simply another thing on my mind."

"Oh," Reflet said as she looked around the room, making sure nobody else was around them. "Then is it about the future, perhaps?"

He nodded at her, confirming her words.

"Well, don't worry too much," she said. "We'll change the future, no matter what it takes. We promised we would make it happen, remember?" She picked her smile back up, looking at him with slight confidence. "And we're going to do it. After all, we're one step closing to fixing it. We won the tournament, and now Ferox is giving us the aid we need for this war."

She moved closer to him, stretching out her finger and curling it around his. "Things will go right this time. Because you're here, and I'm here with you. And we have Chrom and the other Shepherds to help us. I know I haven't seen the future like you have, but I'm not going to let it go the dark path you said it will."

Marth lowered his eyes away from her, softly smiling at her. "Thank you, Reflet. You've helped me very much."

"Of course." She locked their fingers together, shaking it once before letting out a small giggle. "We're going to do this together."

His smile faded back into a frown. Little did she know that soon wouldn't be the case.

Footsteps came from behind them. Marth turned around to see Chrom entering the hall, a sliver of light peeking through the door behind him before he closed it.

"Hello there, Chrom," Marth said.

"Hey you two," Chrom said as he headed over to them. "How are you both doing?"

"Better than before," Reflet said.

"I'm fine," he said, nodding at him.

"That's good, I'm glad." Chrom rubbed his neck, focusing on him. "Listen, Marth, I need to tell you something."

"Yes, what do you need?" he asked.

"Well first, I'd like to tell you thank you." Chrom smiled at him, putting his hand on his shoulder and shaking him gently. "Really, I cannot thank you enough for the help you've given us. And you've given us a lot of help. You saved my sister's life. You were the one who won the Earth King's tournament for us. You even participated in the battle today."

A knot tied itself in Marth's chest as he found himself swallowing the air in his throat. "You're very much welcome. I had only done what was the right thing to do."

"It's not like you had to, either," Chrom said. "You've done all this for us without even being a Shepherd. Which is why I wanted to ask you about said something."

Marth's mouth opened as he gasped. "Wait, you don't mean…?"

Chrom took his hand off of him, giving a quick nod. "Marth, I would like for you to join the Shepherds."

"Y-you want me to, j-join you?"

"We're at war with Plegia now, and you would be an indispensable ally to our cause. I've seen your skill and your determination, and they both leave me very impressed. The Shepherds would be lucky to keep fighting alongside a swordsman like you." Chrom crossed his arms, giving him a shining smile. "Will you join us, Marth?"

Marth stood there as he stared at the man in front of him. A shaky breath escaped from his throat, leaving him as he stifled a sob.

"Yeah, you should totally join us, Mar-Mar!" Reflet grabbed his hand with both of hers, bouncing up and down. "Let's win this war, and then we can go get more bear meat!" She giggled again, smiling as she stared at his mask. The knot in his chest grew bigger as it creeped its way to his heart as he looked back at two of them. He sniffled, shaking his head as he kept himself from crying.

"T-thank you, I'll consider the offer," he said, letting go of Reflet's hand. "But I must leave right now."

"Of course," Chrom said. "The offer will always be open to you."

Marth quickly hurried out of the hall, heading to the stairwell to the third floor. There he hid himself as his tears broke through, flowing down his face. He panted heavily, choking out sobs all alone. Dear Naga, Chrom asked him to join him. To stay with the Shepherds and fight alongside him. If only he had the ability to do so, it would've made him the happiest person in the world. Instead of his words being a source of inspiration, they only served to wound his heart even more than had he never asked that of him.

But he had no choice but to decline. He wasn't from this time. He did not belong in the past. And if more people knew he was from the future, the possibilities of what would happen to him and his friends terrified him. Would he or his friends vanish if his actions caused one of the Shepherds to die before they were born? He didn't know, but he couldn't afford to take that chance. And so Marth stood there in the stairwell, crying in front of no one but himself. There he cried and kept on crying, all the way until he could do so no longer.

"You need to focus, Marth," he said to himself. He wiped the tears off his face, straightening himself as he pushed forward. He made it all the way to where the palace vault was located, where a large, metal door stood in front of him. He took out his key once again, inserting it into the lock of the vault. The door clicked as he swiveled the key around, feeling that he was able to unlock the door. Perfect, it worked just like it did in the future. He locked the door once again, heading back downstairs to make the final preparations he needed to make his move before tonight's attack.

* * *

Chrom found himself swinging at a training dummy in the courtyard, thinking to himself when Reflet approached from behind.

"Chrom?" Reflet asked. "What are you doing out so late? It's getting rather dark, you know?" The sun had set quite a while ago, and very few Shepherds were out and about at this point. Most of them should've been in bed by now, though some had stayed up, dwelling on the events of today.

"I'm just dueling with some unpleasant thoughts at the moment," he said. He raised his sword, striking at the dummy once more. "With everything that's been happening lately, I've kind of been feeling out of it. It's hard to believe we're actually at war right now, right?"

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Reflet said. "We only left Ferox a few days ago. I didn't expect the war to start as quickly as it did."

"Me neither. We should try to make the best of what we have while we still can. I've lived through one war already, and I can tell you it gets worse the longer things drag on."

"Wow, you've been through a war?" she said, looking surprised.

"Have I not told you?" Chrom stopped attacking the dummy, putting his sword on a rack. "When I was young, there was another war between Plegia and Ylisse, one that lasted ten years."

She shook her head. "I didn't know there was another war between your country and theirs."

"It was a dark time for all of Ylisse," Chrom said to her. "First it was our knights and army who fought on the front lines, but soon everyone we had in the kingdom was sent to fight when the former Exalt took to conscripting our people to their deaths. Farmers were forced to trade their pitchforks for swords, forced to fight against Plegia just so they could live. It didn't matter how sick you were or how unskilled you were, so long as you could fight, then you had to fight. And even if you were lucky enough to not get conscripted, you weren't that better off. Our cities and villages were plagued by bandit raids week in and week out by people who wanted to take advantage of the war. People like the ones that took my mom from me and my siblings."

Reflet looked down at the ground, closing her left fist as she rubbed it with the other. "I'm sorry you lost your mom in that war."

Chrom touched the lower part of his back, letting out a sigh. "Thank you," he said, sitting down. "Eventually, we lost so many lives that Ylisse entered a famine. So many of us died that we didn't have enough farmers to grow enough food for the ones who were still alive. And the Plegians didn't fare any better, either. They suffered just as much as we did, if not more than what we went through. By the time the war ended, both kingdoms were left on the brink of collapse. So many of us on both sides all died for the sake of that pointless war."

"Why would such a war even take place?" she asked, sitting down beside him.

"You'd have to ask my father that. Reven was the Exalt before Emmeryn, He was the one who started the war and fanned its flames. It's not like we don't have our own guesses as to why. Though a dry country with many deserts, Plegia is also highly rich in ores and minerals. Things like gold and silver, maybe he wanted all of Plegia's riches within his hands. Greed can drive many to do terrible things." Chrom clenched his teeth, letting out a sigh. "Reven was not a great father, or even a great person. To be honest with you, I hate him. The war only ended with his death ten years ago when he was found dead in the middle of a trench during an attack on a Plegian outpost. When he died, he left our family quite the legacy to deal with, and Emmeryn had to deal with the worst of it. Many Plegians wanted revenge for what their country suffered, and our own people were left in a state of terror and dread. And so when she ascended the throne, they pinned it all on her. They made her a scapegoat to their fear and anger just because she was his daughter, because they thought she'd turn out just like him. Our own people started hurling insults at her everyday, and at one point, stones. She still has a scar where she was hit that day. All she did was try to help someone, she didn't deserve what they did to her."

"That's terrible," Reflet said, her voice slightly louder. "I can't understand why they would do such a thing to her. Wasn't she only trying to help?"

"It is terrible, Reflet," Chrom said. "I don't think I have the patience and strength that she does to withstand all that pain. But even as our people mocked and demonized her, she still reached her hand out, trying her best to heal their wounded hearts. She was the one who called our soldiers home and ended the war. It was her who spent years of her life struggling to pull Ylisse out of the ditch Reven left it in, to rebuild it into a country that opens its heart to its people once more. And I'm worried she'll undo everything she's worked for."

"What's happening with her?" Reflet asked.

"She still wants to make peace with Gangrel. She thinks that he wasn't trying to start a war, and that maybe we could still end the war before any more fighting happens."

"Well, is she right?" she asked. "Could we really reason with him? Then we wouldn't have to fight any further, and no one else would have to die."

Chrom closed his eyes, shaking his head. "I wish she was right, but Gangrel isn't like Emmeryn. He wants revenge for what the last Exalt put his country through. I feel like my sister is too kind sometimes, and I'm worried that her trying to make peace with him will only make things worse for all of us, and especially her."

Reflet lowered her. "I don't know… Maybe she can find a way to do it though. I hope so, at least..."

"I think that's all I have to say for now," Chrom said, getting back up as he picked up his sword again. "Thank you for listening, Reflet. I'm going to keep practicing, okay?"

"Sure, and thank you too, Chrom." Reflet gave him a hug, turning away before heading back inside the palace.

* * *

"Heh, this was just too easy," Gaius said as he got to work picking the palace vault's lock. The thing was a bit of a challenge, but not that difficult if you already picked it once. The only thing that was easier than picking the lock was sneaking into here in the first place. Act like you belong, use a fake name, do a couple of good deeds here and there, and it's easy to earn the trust of your targets. That trust gave him the freedom to scope the place out for the last two months for his client, and now he knew all the extra secret routes and hallways hidden in the palace. He sure wished he had a torch with him, though, 'cause this place was dark as Naga's asscrack. But carrying a torch around would give him trouble, and he didn't need it to be all that bright either way. Instead, he pulled out the candle he swiped off a table earlier from his pocket, lighting it with a small match he stole from a butler in blue armor.

"There we go, clear as crystal," he said as he lit the candle. The flame burned just bright enough for him to make out the outline of some valuables. As expected, the vault had mostly gold, jewels and jewelry in the vault, standard rich people stuff that he could make off without them noticing. Still, he was hoping that there'd be a good dagger tucked away, preferably something with a cool ability. Or at least an interesting design to make for a nice letter opener.

It didn't seem like they had any daggers though, or that many other weapons to begin with. The only other thing of remote interest he could find was just a dusty old green book with a weird symbol on it. He got down on his knees, nearly grabbing the book to check out its contents, though deciding against it as he reminded himself that he was on a timer. It probably wasn't worth any gold, and it's not like he had infinite space in his bag. He shook his head, getting back on his feet as he took from the stash. With his bag filled, he prepared to leave, nearly heading out the door when a scent hit his nose.

"Hey wait…" Gaius said, sniffing the air. Were there cookies in here? No way, that'd make no sense. And yet it definitely smelled like chocolate, sugary goodness. He turned back around, waving his candle over a nearby table to find a plate of cookies, each stacked one atop the other.

"Huh, I knew I smelled that," he said, placing the candle down and taking a cookie for himself. They were even freshly made too, and very delicious. There was no mistaking it, this was _his_ cookie.

But that could only mean that…

"Kyaa!" said the guy in the mask as he rushed him from behind one of the corners in the vault. Gaius raised his arm up, pulling out a dagger before the man grabbed him by both wrists.

Gaius chuckled, struggling to wrest himself free. "So you figured out that I was a thief, then? I should've seen it coming when you asked me to make these for you earlier. I'll say it was clever trying to catch me with my own weakness, but not clever enough. Why on earth would these be in a vault? And so fresh, too." Gaius bit into his cookie, munching on deliciousness itself. "Gods these are good, I knew these were mine."

"Lower your weapon. I need you to do something for me," the man said.

"Huh?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "You know, I don't really get too many clients who attack me while hiring me. If anything, first they hire me, then they attack me. Now why exactly would I join you? I'm already taking on another job."

"Because your associates have been plotting to assassinate the Exalt on this very night," the man said. "That's why I've been hiding here. We've caught wind of their plans, and we need to stop them."

Gaius's jaw dropped alongside his cookie and loot sack. "Okay, _that_ wasn't in my contract. I was told this was a heist, not murder. I'll take the queen's shoes straight off her feet, but I'd never harm a hair on her head. Killing innocent people is not my style. And besides, have you seen how sweet she is? I'm a thief and even I know life is way better now that she's in charge."

Gaius raised his hands in the air, dropping his dagger to show his surrender. "I'm bailing, this mission is not what I signed up for."

The masked guy released his grip, giving him a moment to pick up his dagger.

"So, seeing that I just cancelled my contract with my now former employers, what is it you have in mind?"

"I need you to help defend the palace from the assassins tonight," he said. "Will you be okay with taking a life to save others?"

Gaius shrugged, fiddling with his dagger. "They're not exactly the type of people I'd call innocent. I mean neither am I, but these guys are way worse than the stuff I pull off. I only agreed to this mission because they promised a fat stack of cash for my help. And I'm not feeling too keen about being lied to by them, either. If killing them means they can't kill anyone here, then fine, lead the way."

The guy in the mask nodded, locking the vault before they headed out to the training courtyard. There they found the prince of this place, still training from earlier.

"So what do you want me to do with Blue, huh?" Gaius asked.

The guy pointed to the left to a set of bushes that were big enough for him to hide behind. "Head over there. Just stay on guard, and make sure to watch the two of us."

"On guard huh? Sure, I can do that." Gaius headed over to that direction, pulling out a dagger from the belt on his left leg. He spun it between his fingers, ready to throw it at whoever comes near.

* * *

The assassination attempt on Emmeryn's life was already in motion, but he had the foresight needed to make everything go right, just like he'd been mentally rehearsing for so long. Gaius was simply a decoy, planted in hopes of drawing attention away from the Shepherds while the assassins made their move. He was also someone they planned to use as a scapegoat to shift attention away from them, which would've worked had he not turned on his employers once the fighting broke out in Marth's own timeline. And now that it was the case that he was on their side earlier than planned, it would be enough of a change to rewrite fate's script.

Thus, in the next few moments lied the next change in history. In front of him stood the current prince of Ylisse and the future King and Exalt, Chrom Lowell.

Marth approached the prince, trying to keep himself as cool-headed as possible.

"Marth, hello there. What are you doing so late?" Chrom said, a practice sword in his hand and his real sword in its sheath

For a second, Marth looked away from him, not wanting to see his face as he prepared to do what he was about to do.

_No, don't look away from him. You have to do this. You must be strong. You must save everyone._

"I could say the same for you. But in any case, it's good that you're awake." He stared back at the prince, grasping the hilt of the blade in his sheath. He slowly drew his blade, pointing it at the man in front of him.

Chrom's eyes flared as he stared at Marth. "Woah, wait don't tell me you're going to…" Chrom put a hand on his Queensfang, ready to draw it should he come near. "Marth, was your plan all along to kill me?"

"I'm about to save your life," he said just loud enough for only him to hear.

"Save my life? How?" Chrom said. He narrowed his eyebrows, clearly and rightfully skeptical of his intent. Marth twisted his neck ever so slightly at the rustling bushes behind him. He shifted his blade and his stance, ready to retaliate immediately.

"Die!" the assassin shouted as they jumped out of the bushes, charging after Chrom with their blade raised at his arm.

"Now!" Marth threw his sword into the air, jumping backwards over the assassin as he grabbed his Queensfang. "Hahh!" he shouted, cutting the assassin down the back as he landed down crouched on his feet. The assassin limped over and fell, groaning their last breath.

Marth started breathing heavily. He'd just killed another person. It was necessary —They would've killed someone else and only caused more deaths to come, but…

He pushed those thoughts away, focusing on the man he'd just saved.

"The Exalt's life is in danger," he said, getting back on his feet. "I trust this will suffice as proof?"

"Yeah…" Chrom stared at him in awe, drawing his sword as he relaxed his grip.

"Don't think you're safe!"

"Huh?!" Marth turned around to see a second assassin appear from the bushes, taking him off guard. He quickly tried to dodge out of the way, only to trip on the blade of the assassin he just killed. He fell backwards as the tip of the assassin's blade swiped at his face, barely missing his nose ridge as the blade cleaved his mask in two.

"No!" Marth said as he hit the floor. The assassin raised his blade, ready to swing down on him when Gaius shouted from his hiding spot.

"And you shouldn't think you'll live!" Gaius threw a dagger at the second assassin, swiftly ending their life. He got up from his position, rushing over to where they were standing.

"Oh gods, are you okay, Marth?" Chrom hurried over to him and crouched down got down on his knees, He rushed up over him, grabbing him by the arm.

"Ghh, ahh…" Marth groaned from the pain of hitting the floor. Chrom lifted him up off the ground, bringing his head closer to meet his eyes.

_Oh gods, crap!_

"Hey wait, are you a woman?" Chrom said, raising his eyebrows as he stared at Marth's uncovered face.

Marth bit her finger as one of her secrets was uncovered. She quickly pulled herself away from Chrom, preventing her from getting a proper look at the Mark of Naga in her left eye.

"Indeed, I posed as a man so that others could not recognize who I was," she said. "Though now that you have seen through my disguise, there is no point in hiding my gender any further."

"Wow, well you certainly fooled me," he said, smiling at her. "This whole time I thought you were a guy like you said."

"Really?" she said, smiling back. "Then it looks like I'm quite the actress, too. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't figure it out until just now."

She'd have to tell Owain about this later, but first came the matter at hand.

"Good gender talk," Gaius said. "And I'm sure we're all surprised by this revelation but we got business to take care of. The palace is under attack, remember?"

"Right," Chrom said. "Marth, what should we do?"

"Alright," she said. "Chrom, go find the Exalt and protect her at all costs. We can't afford to have her die tonight."

"She's on the third floor, okay!" Chrom said. He raised his sword, quickly heading back to the palace.

"Chrom should be enough to protect the Exalt on his own," she continued. "Gaius, go ring the bell three times in the barracks. That will alert the Shepherds that the palace is under attack and they need to come to it's aid."

"And you?" Gaius said.

Marth picked her blade off the ground, swinging it twice at the air before raising it forward. "I'm going to find their leader and put an end to this."

"Sounds like a plan, Cookies." Gaius nodded at him, heading off to the barracks.

"Cookies?" Marth said, tilting her head and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Yeah," he said as he turned back around. "Cause you got me to make you those cookies so you could ambush me, right?"

"No?" she said, confused. "I was just hungry. Those were so that I could eat while I was hiding."

"Huh, well alright then." Gaius shrugged, turning around once again. "Good luck out there."

"Thank you," she said. Marth raised her blade again, ready to finish her final mission in the past.

* * *

Reflet wandered in the dark hallways of the palace, tapping on her cheeks as her thoughts stirred over everything going on and everything she was learning about. There was a lot on her mind. Chrom's father and his family's past, Marth's future, and the battle today, too. She sighed, continuing to walk when she suddenly heard a loud ringing behind her.

"A bell?" she said, turning backwards in its direction. The bell rang once more, then another before suddenly stopping. Why did it ring? What was going on?

Whatever it was, it pulled her out of her thoughts, making her stop to actually take a look at her surroundings. She was in a somewhat wide, very dark hallway. There were hardly any torches around, and those that were there were spaced far apart. They flickered a weak and dim yellow glow, as if the flames were ready to die at any moment.

She hugged herself at her arms, realizing how alone she was in this dark, quiet corridor. Just what hour was it that made everything so dark? Was it one? Two? In anycase, maybe it was better if she headed back to the training yard. Chrom was there, after all.

" _Come…_ "

"Huh?!" Reflet squeaked as she quickly turned around, hearing a voice behind her. But nobody was there. Not Liz, not Chrom, nor Cordie. No one. She shook her head, second guessing whether or not she had really heard someone call for her.

" _Come…_ "

A chill crept down her neck as she twisted around once again. And again, there was no one there. And yet she was certain that someone was talking to her. She quickened her pace, glancing backwards every so often. The chill slithered all the way down to her hand, washing her with a disgusting, freezing, sickening feeling. It was like murky, chilling water flowing through her veins. She rubbed her hand, trying to keep it as warm as possible. Was she getting sick? Or was she getting so nervous that it was starting to have an effect on her?

" _Come here…_ "

"Who is that?" she asked. She darted her eyes around the hallway, and yet still her caller was nowhere to be seen, and she couldn't tell where they were coming from. She alternated between looking ahead of her and behind her, trying to catch sight of them. She shifted into a run, before stopping suddenly. What if the person was in front of her? Then she'd run straight into them. But what if they were behind her? Then she'd be caught. Reflet rubbed her hand even faster, only for it to chill quicker than she could thaw it. She didn't know why, but her heart was telling her to run away from whoever was calling her as fast as she could, and to never let that person catch her ever again.

Ever again?

What did she mean, ever again? Had she felt this way before? With who? Was it the person calling for her? Should she run? Should she approach them? Where were they? Were they behind her? In front of her? What did they want from her? Were they friendly? Please let them be friendly. Just who were they and what did they want from her?

"It's me… come… "

Their voice was louder this time, scaring Reflet. She squeaked, doing a sweeping scan of the hallway. She pulled her hood over her face. Mr. Cloak was a very dark cloak, maybe he could hide her by blending into the darkness.

_Click, click, click, click._

Those were footsteps, she could tell by their rhythmic pattern and the way they were coming from the floor. The way they rang in her ears had an unearthly familiarity to them, a ringing she could never unhear. But that didn't make sense, none of it made sense. If she had amnesia, then shouldn't she not remember anything? So then why did it feel like she had known these clicks since her childhood?

A dark, eerily purple glow shone from the corner of the crossroad of the hallway she was in. It shone brighter as it inched closer, coming into full view before heading down her way. The chill in her arm froze her body over. Her entire body shivered in fear, with Reflet growing desperate as she found herself unable to move anymore as the dark flame approached her.

"It's me…"

She let out a louder, more panicked squeak, trying to free her legs from the sluggish paralysis they found themselves trapped in. The flame grew as a man appeared underneath it, holding the flame up like a torch. His hair was as dark as the room around her, with a robe as black to match. The purple, evil looking cloak worn over his shoulders shifted back and forth in the windless air as he took each step closer to her, his shoes clicking on the wooden floor. There was only one word she could use to describe the look his demon-like red eyes gave her. Success.

The man slowly walked over to her, reaching her without her able to make any meaningful resistance as her body refused to run away for her. He raised his hand, placing it on her head and rubbing it as he gave her a devil-like grin.

"Welcome home, my son…"


	12. For Memories

Marth could clearly hear the clashing of metal through the walls as she ran down the hallway. The Shepherds had begun fighting off their assassins, and early too. Maybe they could pull this off after all.

Marth had one goal he needed to accomplish above all others tonight, find the ringleader and kill him before he could kill the Exalt. From what she knew, he was a sorcerer, specifically a dark mage, and the only mage in the group. That left few culprits for him to look out for.

Three assassins rushed down the hallway, intercepting her. Each one wore a black, hooded cloak, concealing their faces.

"Sir, the palace forces have caught on to us, what should we do?" The short assassin in the middle said. He held his sword nervously, uncertain of himself.

"Gahh, damn it all! This was supposed to be an easy mark!" The buff, muscular looking assassin with a goatee cursed as he reversed his sword grip. The leader of the group, most likely. "Whatever, we've got a mission we came for, and we're not getting our pay until we take the Exalt's head! Come on, let's take this girl down!"

The two men charged at her, weapons raised to attack. Marth shouted as she stabbed the short assassin before he could get a hit in, making him scream. She ducked underneath the buff assassin's swing, raising her sword upwards as she slashed him in the arm.

"Fucking hell!" The assassin said as he clutched his bleeding arm. He turned around to face the third, tall assassin who stood by, watching them fight.

"Hey, newbie!" the leader said. "Get your ass into gear and fight! What do you think I pay you for?"

The tall assassin said nothing, only responding by a turn of his neck.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there and wait for her to magically die?" The leader shouted a string of curse words at his underling when suddenly the third assassin rushed at him, grabbing him by both the arms and taking him by surprise.

"Huh? What are you-"

"Haaah!" the tall assassin shouted. They struck the leader in the head with two quick blows before lifting his arm, swinging him into the other assassin and slamming their heads both on the ground. The both of them laid there, quickly slipping into unconsciousness from the sudden attack.

"These man-spawn are no more of a threat. You're welcome," the assassin said, turning to her. They took off their hood, revealing themselves to be a brown haired, brown-eyed woman with facial markings. Marth recognized the long, soft and fluffy looking ears on her head with purple rings wrapped around them, reminiscent of a bunny's ears. Instinctively her hand moved forward in an attempt to grab them, only for her to pull back as she resisted the urge to do so.

"You may know me as Panne," the woman said.

"Thank you, Panne," Marth said, bowing to her. Though she had already known her name, having heard of her in the future. From what she was told, Panne had disguised herself as one of the assassins in hopes of infiltrating them on this day. Yet she too was unable to save Emmeryn in the future.

"You are calm, do I not frighten you?" Panne looked at her with a confused face. "There are many man-spawn who are off-put by my appearance, and my abilities."

"No, I've met the Taguel before. One has been a close friend of mine since I was a child."

Panne's eyes widened. "You have? Where are they?" She spoke quicker than she did before, and Marth caught a glimpse of an excited, nervous smile on her face for a moment before she hid it.

"I cannot say yet," she told Panne. "But there is no time to talk about such matters, do you know where the leader is?"

"Very well, you are right about there not being enough time," Panne said, folding her arms. "Perhaps we can talk about them another day. Right now however, your ruler's life is in danger. The man who leads this group should currently be in the lefternmost hallway, follow me."

Marth nodded, following after her towards the leader.

"Man-spawn," Panne said, "once we save your ruler, may I please learn about my brethren?"

She would've liked to say yes to her. To tell her everything she knew about the Taguel in the future. But she just couldn't make her that promise.

"We'll see," she said quietly to herself, not saying another word as they ran.

* * *

"Welcome home… My son…"

"Your son?" Reflet's words shrieked out of her mouth. Her body finally listened to her again, quickly jolting away from the man who had his hand on her head. "Who are you?!"

"So you do not remember me." The man scowled under the purple, ominous flame in his hand. He walked past her, leering down at her as he turned to face her from the other side. "It does not matter. All that matters is that you come back where you belong, my son."

Her body shivered as his words made her feel sick to her core. She sidestepped away from him on instinct, shouting at him in fear. "Don't call me son!" she said, panic filling her words. By calling her a son, he was also calling her a boy. The thought of being a boy struck something in her, making her scream as dread flooded her heart. She didn't want to be a boy. She didn't want to be anyone's son.

"Hmph, you're still like this then." The man narrowed his eyebrows, facing the lightless hallway ahead of them. He then turned back to her as he gave her a look of contempt, reaching for her head again. "That is of no importance to me. You're coming with me to fulfill your destiny."

She slapped his hand before he could touch her, stepping further away from him. "Get away from me! Get away, get away from me!"

The man's eyes widened as his hand was hit. He pulled away from her as he scoffed, narrowing those red eyes. "You're still as troublesome and rebellious as you were before. I'll have to bring you back by force, then." The man lowered his hand which held the dark flame, pointing it in her direction. The flame grew more and more intense, ready to fire off at her. Reflet's own eyes widened as she prepared a thunderbolt in her own hand, pointing back at him as she stepped further away from him.

"Get away!" she said. She threw the spell at him before he could hit her, only for him to swat the air with his free hand.

"Reflect!" the man said. A dark purple barrier of light suddenly formed before him, taking the bolt for him. Electric sparks flew off into the air as they hit the screen of light, fizzling away into nothing. He scoffed once again, the scowl on his face growing nastier.

"So, you've decided to play your childish games once again? So be it."

Reflet's heart sank as she watched her attack be rendered completely useless. The light barrier flickered away as the man rushed towards her. Her instincts kicked in immediately, pulling her away from him as she sprinted back the way she came.

She brought her hands to her chest as she ran, trying to get away from the clicking of his shoes and the dark flame in his palm. The clicking quickened, making Reflet run even faster as she tried to come up with a way to escape. There was no way she could take him head on, not with their size difference and that barrier of his. Maybe she could try to find Chrom instead. He was much stronger than her, and he should still be in the training yard, which shouldn't be too far from where she was. She needed to reach him then, and before this man could catch up to her, too.

"Hellfire!" the man shouted from behind her. A blast of purple fire shot in her direction, flaring intensely through the hallway. She squeaked as she ducked underneath it, seeing it smash into the wall up ahead and leaving scorch and burn marks everywhere.

"You will not escape me once more!" he said, hurling another blast of fire at her chest. She barely managed to roll underneath, turning the corner to the other hallway in the nick of time. The roll left her on her knees, however, and before she could pull herself on her feet, the man chasing her already grabbed her by the arm. He yanked her off the ground, nearly crushing her wrist as he pulled her back to him.

"Had your fun?" The man snarled as he lowered his palmed flame to her eyes, its ill warmth radiating on her cheek. "Good, now let's return."

Reflet resisted his grip on her, struggling to run away from him. Yet the man quickly overpowered her, yanking her back with much more force than she had.

"Resistance is futile, young boy! Your place is back at my side, where you belong!" the man said.

"Let go of me!" Reflet shrieked as she dug her heels into the ground. She angled her palm upwards towards his eyes, firing off a flash of light straight into them.

"Damn you!" The man screamed in pain as he stumbled backwards, rubbing his eyes with one hand. Reflet yanked her arm back to her, taking off straight for the training yard. She was thankful his barrier didn't block her attack. Maybe that was because it wasn't a spell like Wind or Thunder, spells that could deal actual damage to opponents. Meanwhile, Flash was just that, a flash of light. But right now figuring that out was less important than escaping that man. Reflet turned around to see him still chasing after her. He held an elbow over his face, listening to her footsteps instead of using his eyes to track her down. Reflet started to feel the limits of her endurance weighing down on her. She clutched her chest as she panted hard, her pace slowing down as the man closed the gap faster and faster with each moment. This didn't look good for her. She needed to figure out a way to get him off of her, just long enough to reach Chrom. She looked around the shadowed hallway as she dug inside her clothes, desperate for a solution or something she could use. She was missing her dagger, and she didn't have her books on her, either. All she had was her cloak, and the only thing around her were those barely alive torches.

"Wait a second!" she said aloud as an idea crossed into her brain. She ran over to one of torches on the wall, taking it as she continued to run. With a torch in hand, she slipped her other hand out of her cloak, using said hand to pull the rest of her hood off of her.

"Come on, please work!" she pleaded, dangling her beloved hood over the flames of the torch. The flames quickly caught on to her hood, growing hotter and intense with each second she ran. She looked back at the man to see him preparing another bolt of hellfire as he gained on her, now much closer to her than before.

"Resistance is futile!" The man raised his arm up, ready to send the flames at her.

"Now!" Reflet said. "Flame Cloak!" She quickly wrapped around, hurling her cloak back at the man before his dark flames could fire off. The cloak latched itself onto his face, catching on to his flame before torching the man ablaze.

"Gahhh!" he screamed loudly, hitting the floor as he struggled to pull her flaming jacket off of him. Reflet spent no time watching him, throwing her torch at him before bolting away once again with what little strength she had left. She managed to reach the next hallway that was close to the training yard, but by this point she found herself with no energy left to spare. Her sprint slowed and slowed until she was left with nothing but a walk. And soon her body gave out, bringing her to her hands and knees before collapsing to the floor, refusing to keep going. Reflet laid there, clutching her heart and gasping for air as the man slowly caught up to her once again, growling under his breath. She twisted her head to see the scorched man narrowed eyed and flamed raised to the air, furious with her.

"You always have been a troublesome boy," the man said. "Say goodnight." He lowered his flame before he aimed it at her. He fired it off, its evil flames shining in her eyes as it drew ever closer to her. Reflet struggled as she made a desperate attempt to escape, but only found herself able to do so much as pull herself on her knees. She braced herself to take the flames head on, weakly raising her arms to protect what little she could. Just before her body could be set alight, however, suddenly she found herself rolling out of the way before being lifted into the air, narrowly avoiding the fireblast.

"It's okay, I'm here," someone said. They wrapped their arms around her back and legs, tightly gripping onto her. Reflet looked up to see her savior's face, her own face flushing as hot as the sun once she saw their clear, blue eyes. Their eyes were mismatched, with one being a vibrant shade of blue while the other being much lighter and warmer. They looked down on her with both worry and relief, as their owner hugged her even tighter than before. Now in the safety of someone's arms, Reflet began to cry into their chest, sobbing as her emotions poured out of her.

* * *

Reflet cried and sobbed in her soft voice, clinging onto Marth's shoulders."Mar-Mar! Mar-mar Mar-mar Mar-mar! This man keeps chasing me and I can't fight him!" Tears flowed down her face as she cried even harder, burying herself into her shirt. "I don't have a weapon and my magic doesn't work and he keeps calling me a boy but I'm not a boy! I'm not a boy, Mar-Mar!"

"You're safe now. We'll protect you." Marth looked over to Panne. "I'm going to find a place to keep her safe. Distract him while I return."

"You and I are on the same page then." Panne got down on all fours, staring the sorcerer down as she readied herself.

Marth turned to the man who spearheaded this attack, shooting him a deathly glare. "You will not lay another hand on anyone else tonight," she said. With that, she turned around, taking Reflet with her to the training courtyard. There, she hid her behind one of the bushes near the wall, making sure she was in a position where no one could spot her.

"Are you feeling alright, Reflet?" she said as she lowered Reflet to the floor.

"No, not at all. I'm scared Mar-Mar," she said, shaking her head rapidly and continuously. She held herself by the knees as she sat, with her eyes red and teary from her crying. Whatever the assassin said to her, it left her absolutely terrified. "He has a barrier that blocks magic attacks, and he's faster than me too. And he keeps saying he'll take me back with him, but I don't want him to touch me! And he keeps calling me a boy! I don't want to be a boy, Mar-Mar!"

The way she was acting reminded her of someone else she knew. "Of course you're not. You're a girl, and you've always been a girl," she said. She brought the girl closer to her, hugging her. She wasn't sure how much her words could help especially in such a critical moment. She wished she had the time to help her.

She pulled away, getting back on her feet. "Stay here for now, we'll make sure he can't do anything to you anymore, alright?"

Reflet shyly nodded, continuing to sob as Marth left the courtyard. He returned to see the two fighting, Panne's fists against the sorcerer's flames. She approached the two, drawing her sword from its sheath as she set her sights on the sorcerer who brought the world to ruin. She raised it at him, ready to end this once and for all.

"It's over, your plans have been foiled," she said. "The prince has already gone to protect the Exalt. Your future will never come to pass!"

"Hmph." The sorcerer scoffed as he turned his attention to her, staring her down. There were burn marks all across his face and arms, and his clothing was scorched and tattered in several places. Reflet must have found some way to injure him despite being unable to harm him with magic.

"And just who do you think you are?" he said.

"I am the one who will save the future!" she said. She clenched her teeth, as she lunged at him with all her might, fully intending to kill him. She _had_ to, even if she didn't like killing. This was the man who brought her entire world to ruin. If he never killed her aunt, if he never harmed her father, then the future would have never taken its dark turn. That's why she needed to end this.

And if killing him meant saving the world and the lives of everyone she had ever known and loved, she'd do it no matter the cost!

"Hahh!" she shouted. She stabbed her Queensfang into his arm, making him howl as he threw his flame at her. She pulled the blade out of his shoulder, rolling to the side.

"It's over!" she said. She ran her blade through his chest, piercing him to deliver the final blow. The sorcerer groaned in pain as he was stabbed. He clutched onto the Queensfang, coughing up blood as he snarled at her.

"Argh...gaahh!" he howled, coughing up even more blood. "Don't even think for a second that this is the last of me! Mark my words, I will destroy each and every one of you followers of a false god!" He lifted his hand as three purple rings of light appeared above his head. They glided all the way to the floor, covering him in a wave of light. When the light disappeared, so did he. All that was left of him was the blood left on Marth's blade.

"Damn it," she cursed, wiping her blade clean. Despite her best efforts, he got away. He couldn't have gone too far, however, if he could even survive his wounds.

"What form of magic was that?" Panne asked, turning to her.

"It must have been warp magic," she guessed. "Come on, let's keep moving."

* * *

Chrom cut down the assassin who tried to sneak into Emm's room, sheathing his sword.

"Alright, I think we're safe now," he said, turning around to his sister in sleeping clothes. "Sorry about barging into your room, Emm."

"It's alright," Emm said. "But more importantly, thank you for saving my life, Chrom."

It sounded like the fighting finally stopped downstairs. Now that the battle was over, the two of them made their way to the training yard to meet up with Marth.

"Sir! We cleared out all these assassin fellas who tried to come at us!" Donny said as he arrived at the yard, growing surprised once he glanced at Emmeryn. "Oh, Lady Emmeryn! It is an honor to meet you!" Donny gave an elaborate bow, trying his best to be respectful. Behind him were nearly all of the Shepherds. They all must have gathered to take down their enemies once the bell was rung.

"Thank you." His sister giggled, waving at him. "Donny, correct? You have been of wonderful help."

"Shucks, it ain't nothin," Donny said as he rubbed his head. "I'm just doin' what my pa' always told me to do."

"It was nothing?" Vaike wrapped his arm around Donny's head as he brought him in for a noogie. "Pshaw, what are you talking about? You took out two of those assholes all on your own!"

"Vaike! Heheheh!" Donny laughed, trying to snake his head out of Vaike's grip. "Come on now! We're in front of the queen!"

"Don't worry about it! The queen is chill, right Emmeryn?" Vaike said, turning to her.

Emmeryn giggled again as the smile on her face grew wide. "You have wonderful friends, Chrom. Thank you, all of you for protecting myself and the palace tonight."

"The queen is indeed chill," Chrom said, giving his friends a smirk.

"See? I told you!" Vaike said, rustling Donny's head again.

"Alright!" Donny laughed again, getting Vaike's hand off of him. "As I was sayin' earlier, saving lives has always been a dream of mine, you see? I'm so thankful to Sir Chrom for helping me achieve it."

"Thank you too, Donny," Chrom said. "In the short time I've known you, you've already been a big help fighting."

"Awww," Donny said as he blushed. "You're makin' my face warmer than a slice of bacon." Things seemed to be going well, until Maribelle suddenly started shouting at someone.

"You!" she said. She stepped out of the crowd, locking eyes with their butler Asugi. "Just what on earth do you think you're trying?"

" _Oh crapbaskets_." Asugi's immediately backpedaled out of the crowd, bumping into Chrom. "Look, I can explain—"

"You don't need to explain yourself!" Maribelle cornered him, pointing her finger to his neck. "You were in league with our assailants, weren't you? And what's with that bag you're carrying? You were stealing from us, no doubt!"

Chrom furrowed his eyebrows. "Asugi, were you stealing from the vault?"

Maribelle narrowed her eyes as she looked at Chrom and then at Asugi. "You chose a fake name for yourself that is merely the rearranged letters of your real name, Gaius?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time! Nobody questioned it until now!" Gaius raised his hands up. "Look, it's true that I was stealing for them, but that was until these guys started attacking everyone. I swear, the second I found out they were going to kill people I immediately turned on them." Gaius turned to Chrom. "Blue, you know I'm telling the truth, right? I even killed one of those guys to save you and your friend!"

"Well, umm... " Chrom scratched his cheek, thinking how best to handle this. "Emmeryn, what do you think we should do? He was stealing, yes, but he did save my life."

Emm turned to Gaius. "Gaius, do you swear to never steal a single thing from the palace ever again?" she said.

Gaius placed his hand on his heart and bowed. "I swear to Naga, Tiki, Forseti, and the Demon King that I'll never so much as steal a donut from this place ever again!"

Emm nodded again. "Very well, then so long as he commits to his word, I shall put my trust in him. "

Gaius let out a deep sigh of relief. "Alright, god thank you," he said. Despite Emmeryn's words, Maribelle was still furious, poking him twice in the chest.

"That still doesn't change the fact you framed my father!" she said. "He never deserved to have an axe put to his head! He almost died because of you!" Maribelle turned her back away from him, hissing through her teeth as she stormed away from the group.

Gaius winced as she left, letting out a quiet groan. "Well that left a bitter taste in my mouth," he muttered.

"Wait, so what happened between you and her father?" Chrom asked.

"That's not something I wanna talk about right now, okay?" Gaius said as he rubbed his wrist. "Listen, I just want to be done with this day." Gaius backed away from him, crouching on his knees as he stayed silent. After that, Marth entered the training yard, bringing a brown-haired woman with her.

"Oh good, Marth you're here," Chrom said. "Wait, who's the girl next to you?"

"Her name is Panne," she answered. "She helped me fight off the assassins. I see you are all safe."

Chrom took a closer look at the woman, specifically the long, fluffy ears on her head.

"Err, does she have bunny ears?" he asked. Were there people with bunny ears in the world? Could people have dog or cat ears too?

"I never expected to find that a Taguel would come to rescue us," Emm said. "But, there are not enough words to express my gratitude. Thank you for your efforts today."

He looked over to her. "Sorry, what's a Taguel?"

"I am a Taguel," Panne said. "We are shape-shifters. Most of your kind called us beasts or coneys in the midst of their hunt." She turned to Emm. "I only helped because my warren owes Ylisse a debt. Do not think us friends, you and I."

"I don't understand," he said, knitting his eyebrows. "A hunt?"

"Indeed, it's precious how little your kind often understands." Panne crossed arms, giving him a bitter glare. "It was man-spawn like you that invaded our warren and slaughtered my people."

"What?! Is that true?" Emm said, gasping as she put a hand over her mouth. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Hmph," Panne huffed. "Don't be so shocked. You are all the same. Right down to your base desire to ruin and destroy all you touch, even each other. First you take the lives of my people, only to find yourselves taking the lives of each other."

"...There is truth to your words, perhaps." Emm lowered her eyes before staring back at Panne. "I'm told that, in taguel society, everyone is treated as an equal. Mankind could learn much from your warren. The words may come too late and mean too little, but I am deeply sorry. We have stolen your friends and family and made the world a lesser place."

"You claim to be blameless, and yet you would apologize?" Panne said, scrunching her face up. "Your words are but wind."

"I know…" Emm said as she shook her head. "But they are all I have."

"...You seem sincere, man-spawn." Panne closed her eyes, tightening her eyelids before softening them. "You feel my pain as your own. I've never felt that before." She opened her eyes, looking back at Emmeryn. "Look at me. See what I am. I will never trust mankind. But you… Perhaps you truly are not like the others."

"All I ask is a chance to earn your trust."

Panne unfolded her arms, moving to her side. "Very well, then let me accompany you. I wish to see whether or not your words hold weight."

"Thank you, Panne," Emmeryn said with a small, grateful smile on her lips.

"Hey, we're missing Reflet," Chrom said as he looked around the yard. "Where is she?"

"Hiding," he heard her say. Reflet crept out from a bush, walking over to them. "I got attacked by this sorcerer, and Panne and Marth had to save me."

"Woah, Reflet, are you okay?" he said as he looked at her. She was hugging herself tightly. Her face was stained with tears, and she looked like she'd just lived through hell. Even her jacket was missing, leaving her in her white shirt and pants.

"What happened to your cloak?" he said.

"I burned it and threw it at his face to try to stop him from chasing me," she said in a defeated voice. "It's nothing but ash now."

"You burned it?" he said. "That sounds like a crazy fight."

"The leader of that pack was a practitioner of dark magic," Panne said. "Her magic had no effect on him."

"Yeah, and he called me a boy a bunch of times," Reflet added, hugging herself tighter. "It made me feel horrible."

"He called you a boy?" Chrom said. "But you're a girl, why would anyone do that? That's a dick move."

"Chrom, I told you not to swear," Emm said, chastising him.

"Oops, sorry," he said. "In anycase, I'm glad you're safe now, Reflet."

Emmeryn turned to Marth and Panne. "Thank you both for protecting her. Might I ask, were you able to find out who these assassins were? And what became of their leader?"

"I do not have the answer to the former," Marth said, lowering her head. "I had only knowledge of the day they'd make their attack. But as for their leader, he escaped, yet bled heavily from the wounds in his arms and chest."

"Hmm…" Freddy said, "even with his wounds, there's still the possibility that he survived tonight. That would not bode well for us at all." He shook his head, turning to Emm and Chrom. "Whether he is alive or not is another topic entirely, however. Tonight has proven that our defense has been compromised. We can no longer afford to stay in the palace when Emmeryn is at risk. We need to relocate Emmeryn immediately for her safety."

"I agree, Frederick," Chrom said. "We should take her to Ferox. The Khans will protect her there."

"And leave our people undefended and without their leader?" Emmeryn interjected, shaking her head at them. "War is at our borders. Our people will not be able to stand against Plegia on their own. They must know their leader and their exalt stands with them."

"But Emmeryn, it's not safe here," Chrom argued. "We can't afford to leave you here when we don't even know who these assassins were and how they got in. For all we know, they could easily have been Plegians sent by Gangrel to kill you before the war even has a chance to take off. Don't you think it is a little strange that we just so happened to be attacked on the night we go to war?"

"Even if your suspicion was correct, I refuse to leave our people behind." Emmeryn firmly shook her head. "Ylisse will fall without its leader. I don't want to imagine what will come should that happen."

"Perhaps we can compromise, then?" Freddy said. "What about relocating to the palace in the eastern city of Mostyn? Only we would have knowledge of your whereabouts. You would be safer, you would still be with your people, and you could still relay your orders on short notice."

"But is that a good idea, Freddy?" Chrom said. "We need to be relocated immediately, and the quickest way to get to Mostyn is through Breakneck pass. Taking another route could take too long. We could ferry our way from Southside's port, but we'll have to cross a far greater distance in the water then we'd have to on land."

"I don't enjoy the thought of taking that route, either," Frederick said. "It is quite treacherous, and it is known to hold bandits who lie in wait to steal from the unfortunate traders and merchants. That's why I'd suggest we take some of the Pegasus Knights with us to act as a scouting party on our travels. Once we arrive at the palace, they will act as our queen's personal guard. Between the Shepherds and the Pegasus Knights, we will be more than safe from any highwaymen desperate enough to take us on."

"Hmm… Very well," Emmeryn said. "We shall make our way to Mostyn in the morning. Frederick, go find Phila and inform her of our plans."

"Of course, Milady." Frederick bowed his head, heading off to find Phila.

"So in the meantime, I guess I should put this stuff back in the vault?" Chrom said, lifting up Gaius's loot bag.

"I'll do it, it ain't troublin' me none." Donny took the bag off his hands, slinging it over his back. "Where's the vault? Third floor, right?"

"Yeah," he said. Donny gave them all a smile and a nod, heading back inside the palace.

"Queen Emmeryn!" Phila shouted, running towards them before Frederick was even ten feet away from them. "Forgive me! I failed in my duty, I never should have let these assassins make it into the palace in the first place!"

"Do not blame yourself, Phila," Emm said. "You couldn't have known what was coming."

"Yeah, only Marth knew about today," Chrom said. "She saved my life earlier when an assassin snuck up behind me, and he was the one who told me to go find and protect you, Emm. If there's anyone to thank today, it's her. It's all thanks to her that we came out unscathed."

"Well then I'm blessed to have her foresight," Emm said with a giggle. "This makes another time that she has helped our family. Chrom, where is Marth exactly? I'd like to thank her properly for her efforts today."

"Hmm? She's right there," Chrom said as he pointed where Marth used to be standing.

"What?" he said, noticing that there was a distinct lack of Marth. "Where did she run off? _When_ did she run off?" It was almost like those drawings where a character suddenly disappears and there's a white dotted outline flickering where they used to be.

"Mar-Mar? Where'd she go?" Reflet said. Marth's disappearance seemed to make her even more anxious than before. No doubt because of just how rattled she was today after having gone through so much.

"So that's what I noticed," Panne said, turning around.

"Huh?" Reflet said.

"I heard the beat of someone's heart rising when your leader and the other two were planning their next movements, one which began to move further and further away." Panne pointed east to one of the towers built into the palace walls. "She took off in that direction."

"Her heartbeat was rising? That's strange," Chrom said. "Reflet, could you check on her and bring her back while we wrap this up?"

Reflet nodded shyly, heading off towards the tower in search of their friend.

* * *

Finally, it was all over. She'd done what she'd been sent to the past to do. Now she had saved both Emmeryn's life and Chrom from his grave wound in the future. With her primary objectives complete, all she had left to do was leave. She snuck off to the eastern watchtower, hiding in its dark corners as she ran a finger along the stone bricks. There should've been a fake wall somewhere around here which she could use to slip out without having to face Chrom or the other Shepherds.

"Got it," she said as she found a piece of suspicious wall. She pushed that part of the wall open, leading to a small, dark passage that would take her out of the palace. It seemed that the assassins didn't seem to know about this particular path, thankfully. Very few people even knew about it in the first place. That was an intentional decision so that they'd ensure a way to evacuate in case the palace was ever under siege.

"Marth?"

"R-Reflet?" she said, whipping around to see her. She felt a blush coming on her cheeks. She was hoping nobody would notice her slipping away.

"I wasn't— I didn't expect for you to follow me."

"Panne told me you were going this way," Reflet said. "Why are you over here? Come on, let's go back. Emmeryn and Chrom want to see you."

"They want… to see me?" Her stomach started to twist itself as she listened to Reflet's words. Even as she was getting ready to leave, they still wanted to see her.

"Yeah, they want to thank you," she said, grabbing her by the hand. "And… I want to thank you for saving me, too."

Marth looked away from her, lowering her eyes. "Thank you, Reflet. I'm glad you're safe."

Reflet stepped closer to her, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She clutched onto them, her small, soft fingers feeling like needles pricking at Marth's heart as she pulled away. Reflet lowered her hands to one of her own, grasping it with both of them as she lightly tugged on her.

"We have to go back now. Come on Mar-Mar." Reflet tugged again, frowning as Marth stayed put.

"Mar-Mar? What's wrong?" she said, hopelessly tugging on her again.

"I'm sorry, Reflet," Marth whispered.

"Sorry? For what?" Reflet looked at her with soft, purple eyes. They were innocent, unaware of what was to come.

"I…" Marth stopped, unable to form words. She looked away from her once again, trying to avoid her gaze. Reflet pulled Marth back again, furrowing her eyebrows as Marth still stayed in place. Reflet peeked behind the other woman to see the dark passage behind her, taking a moment before she fully grasped the situation.

"Wait, is that…" Reflet's eyes suddenly shot open. She gasped, looking up at Marth. "Mar-Mar? Are you going to leave us?" She gave him a pained look, shaking her head rapidly like before.

"It had been a part of my plan all along," she said quietly as she held her own arm. "I knew in my heart that I'd leave the moment this day came. My mission is finally over, and because of that, I no longer have a reason to stay here."

"But why?" she pleaded. Reflet let out a quiet sob, looking at her in fear. "Why would you want to leave us?"

"Because I don't belong here, Reflet," she said.

"What do you mean by that? Of course you belong here. Don't you want to be a Shepherd just like me?" She wrapped herself around Marth's arm as she pulled back once again. Her touch was still gentle, but now it held more force as she tried in vain to bring Marth back. Marth closed her eyes as she took her hands, undoing her grip finger by finger.

"I'm not from this timeline, Reflet," Marth said. "I didn't just see the future. I _came_ from the future. I told you that I saw the future because I didn't want you to find out the truth. I'm not supposed to be a Shepherd, Reflet. Not here, not today. I'm sorry."

"Why though? Why can't you just stay with us?" There was desperation in her voice as her tears hit the ground. As Marth watched the girl cry right in front of her, her heart sank deeper and deeper down towards the earth.

"I just don't belong here," she said, looking away from her. "I've already changed the future enough. I can't change it anymore without threatening to break it."

Reflet shook her head even faster than before. She wrapped herself around Marth, holding onto her back as she cried into her chest. "No-no-no-no! Please don't leave, you're my friend Mar-Mar! I don't want you to go away! I want you to stay! With us! With me!"

"R-Reflet…" Marth wiped the tears off her face, looking into her eyes. There was a part inside her that really did want to stay with her. To stay with the Shepherds and to be with her family again. When she first set out to travel into the past, she buried those thoughts of wishing to return to them long ago. Deep down, however, she missed them more than anything else in the world, and they could only stay buried for so long.

But she couldn't stay with any of them.

"Thank you, Reflet. You've helped me so much throughout my entire mission. With any luck, the future I've sought to prevent will never be unleashed. But for now… This is goodbye." She pulled the crying woman's arms off her back, turning around to face the path ahead her.

"Mar-Mar! Please!" Reflet begged, grabbing onto her arm one last time. Marth turned his neck around, locking eyes with her to see the painful look of sadness in those purple, twilight-like eyes one last time.

"I'm sorry," Marth said one final time. She turned back around as she began to run. She ran and ran, hearing the cries of a scared, heartbroken friend echoing behind her. No matter how far she ran, those cries lingered with her, a constant echo in her ear.

She ran away from those cries, from Reflet and from all of them, never looking back. Teardrops fell off her own face as she kept running away from the Palace, away from Iris into the night. She'd never to see any of them again.

* * *

Reflet covered her face with her hands, sobbing her heart out as Marth disappeared into the night.

"Refl—!" she heard Chrom say as he entered the room. "Woah, what happened Reflet?" he said as Liz and Emmeryn came in after him.

"Mar-Mar left us," she said. She hugged him, sobbing even louder.

"She did? Aww, I'm sorry Reflet." Liz joined in the hug, petting her gently on the head.

"She—" Reflet said, sniffling, "she said her mission was over, and that she didn't belong with us."

"There-there," Emmeryn said, putting a hand on her head as well. "It's okay, it wasn't your fault." Together the three of them hugged her, and though it was warm, it did nothing to stop the ache in her heart.

"Come on, let's get her to her room," Chrom said. The three of them took her back to the barracks, leading her to her room. Reflet continued to sniffle as she tried to wipe her tears, getting into her bed.

"Will you be okay, Reflet?" Emmeryn said as she handed Reflet's blanket to her.

"Yea, we could stay with you if you'd like," Lissa said.

Reflet shook her head. "I don't know." She really didn't know what to think right now. She never once thought of Mar-Mar leaving her, but now that she was gone her heart felt like it was suddenly ripped in two. After this and everything else about this day, she just wanted to hold her pillow and cry into it.

"Well, we'll be in one of the spare rooms if you need us," Chrom said. "You should get some rest, we have to wake up in a few hours." The three of them went over to the door, wishing her a good night as they closed it.

* * *

"Daaamn iiit!" Validar clutched his bleeding chest and arms, struggling to keep himself alive as he limped out of the city that belonged to these filthy swine. "Everything was supposed to go as I orchestrated it to go! I'll not be defeated here! My purpose is too significant for me to fall!" He managed to get to his hiding spot in the forest, barely able to hold out as he leaned himself on a tree.

"That's an unfortunate turn of events. Still, it's not something I didn't plan for."

"What?" Validar said, scowling as he scanned the area around him in search of whoever was calling him. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Who am I, you ask? Such an interesting question."

From behind a tree, a hooded figure creeped out, walking towards him with a casual step. His figure seemed to be enshrouded in a black mist, with the only thing revealed to him being his dark cloak.

"I've gone by many names in my life, but I think I'll simply call myself a harbinger of fate," he said. "As for where I come from…" The figure crossed his ethereal arms as he chuckled lightly. "Well, I think I have a few answers too many."

Was he being coy with him? How foolish, he could easily blast his life away were he not wounded so grievously.

"What have you come for? Answer me!" Validar said.

The cloaked man raised his left fist as an ominous purple mark began to shine from the back of it. It pulsed intensely, with its sickly aura growing in both power and size.

"I will lend you a piece of my power, take it as you wish," the hooded figure said. He grabbed Validar by the hand, and gradually Validar found his body swelling with power. He was cloaked in a dark purple light as it crawled its way inside of him, sealing his wounds shut and getting rid of the pain.

"This power, it's… it's…" It was nothing but pure vileness. His body felt sick and corrupted, unnatural even. It was as if his body was infused with an unholiness the world had never seen before.

He grinned. "It's perfect."

"I'm not at my full power yet, so I'll be needing more time to recover." The figure pointed his finger at him, wagging it coyly. "That's where you come in. Your story won't end here." The figure gestured for Validar to kneel before him. Validar did as instructed as the figure put his hand on his head. The figure then turned away from him, setting his sights towards the city of false believers.

"Do whatever you want with this power," the figure said. "I already know it'll turn out in my favor. You know your destiny as well as I know it. So go now, be fate's prophet. As for me…"

The figure raised his branded hand up to where his eyes should have been, chuckling to himself as watching it with what seemed to be his devil's grin. "I think I'll simply play with a puppet until I'm ready."

* * *

"Hahhh!" Chrom shouted as he ran up to their final opponent, swinging his Queensfang at the evil sorcerer. The sorcerer shot blue lightning sparks from the tips of his hand, pushing Chrom's blade backwards as he prepared a blast of dark lightning. She tugged on to her hood, charging a thunder spell as she tried to sneak behind the sorcerer for a clean attack. She fired the spell at the man, only for him to disappear into thin air before it could strike.

"Up there!" Chrom said, pointing up above as the man launched the dark spell at the ground. The spell exploded, knocking them both off their feet and sending them flying backwards. She threw another spell at him as she flew, landing on her hands as she swept herself back on her feet.

"You fool!" The man shouted, disappearing into light as he dodged the spell once more. He reappeared behind Chrom, cloaking himself in lightning as he tackled Chrom in the back, smashing him into a pillar. The sorcerer then channeled another dark blast, raising it above his head as he prepared to throw it at Chrom.

"Ahahaha! Now die!" He threw the massive orb of darkness at Chrom, who was still struggling to get up and would not be able to get off his feet in time.

"Chrom!" she shouted, firing off her own thunderbolt to intercept their opponent's blast and save Chrom's life. Both spells clashed before exploding into a whirl of black and white light. They blinded the three of them, knocking each of them backwards once again.

The light cleared up from her eyes as she lifted herself off the ground, seeing that the sorcerer turned to her, giving her one last scowl.

Chrom propped himself off the ground, lighting his sword aflame as he looked at her. "This is it! Our final battle! You're one of us, and no destiny can change that! Now let's kill this bastard and be done with it!" With that he rushed back at the sorcerer, ready to end this once and for all.

"Right!" She nodded before she chased after Chrom, ready to follow-up with another thunder spell. The two of them charged at the man as he fired off another blast Chrom. Chrom jumped over it and into the air, spinning around before swinging down upon him.

"Aether!" Chrom said as he clashed with the sorcerer, pushing against his lightning. He barely overpowered it, yet failed to break past it to kill the man. Thankfully for her, however, the attack bought her just enough time to finish the job.

"Blink!" she said, instantly disappearing into light. She reappeared right behind the sorcerer, crouching under him with her spell now fully charged.

"Huh?!" The sorcerer twisted his neck around to face her. His eyes widened, realizing it was over for him.

"Thoron: Thunder Blade!" A sword made out of pure yellow lightning formed in her left hand. She pierced it through the sorcerer's chest, giving him a fatal electrocution. The sorcerer limped down as his body expelled all the magic he had left inside of him, and he began to fade away into a purple light without uttering a single word.

Now that that was finally over, she got back on her feet, panting hard as she tried to catch her breath. "It's over Chrom, we did it!" she cheered, giving him a tight hug.

"Hahah, Yeah!" Chrom pumped his fist into the air, wrapping a shoulder around her. Together they turned around, getting ready to head out of this place. Their mission was finally over. They could finally rest.

"This isn't over... Damn you BOTH!" The sorcerer suddenly screamed at them, getting back up as he fired one last attack at point blank range at Chrom, intending to take him out with him.

"Chrom!" she said, pushing him out of the way as she took the entire blast for herself. Her body screamed in pain as the spell exploded on her, wracking her body with the worst shock of her life. Her body quickly collapsed to the ground, unable to get up on her own.

"Are you all right?" Chrom said, gently lifting her off the ground. He panted heavily, giving her a worried look before turning back to the sorcerer's now fading body.

"That's the end of him," he said, turning back to her and smiling. "Thanks to you we carried the day. We can rest easy now. At long last…"

Suddenly something stabbed at her heart, turning her vision a crimson shade of red. Her heart stopped for just a moment only to rapidly rise faster and faster as her vision grew redder.

"Gahh!" she screamed in pain. What was happening? Did that attack give her a slow death? She was stabbed in the heart again, her vision worsening as she felt her arm jolt upwards, not by her own decision.

"What's wrong?" Chrom looked at her with worried eyes once again. Their worry grew stronger before they went wide in shock.

"Hey, hang on—!" Chrom said when all of a sudden he cut himself off with a scream. He grunted out a breath, leaving nothing else but pain in his eyes.

"Chrom!?" she said. In his hand, he held a yellow blade of lightning in his chest. A yellow blade that belonged to her. Chrom slowly backed away from her, struggling to breathe as he weakly stood up.

"This is not your- your fault… Promise me you'll escape from this place... Please, go…"

With those final words, he gave out his last breath, falling over as he hit the floor.

Her vision cleared up as she rushed to her friend, kneeling beside him. "Chrom?" she said, shaking his lifeless body.

"Chrom, wake up! Wake up!" she shouted, trying to bring him to life.

"Wake up Chrom!" she said, shaking him even more.

"Chrom! Chrom! Chrom wake up!" she shouted as she rapidly shook her own head. "No-no-no! Don't die Chrom! Don't die!" She started breathing heavily as tears fell off her face. There she laid, clutching onto her friend's lifeless body.

"I don't want you to die Chrom!" she screamed, springing her head up. "Don't die on me! Don't die!"

The door suddenly swung open. "Reflet?! I just woke up, what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Reflet looked up, seeing the blue eyes of the one who came to her. It was Chrom, standing in front of her with a worried look.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She sobbed and panted as she looked around, looking at the blanket on top of her legs. She was back in her room, and her friend was still alive.

"I-I, I had a dream. You were there, and I was there, and that man from before who kept calling me his son was there. And-and I killed you Chrom!" She broke into tears once more as her entire body shivered in fear. "Chrom, you died because of me!"

Chrom moved over to her bedside, giving her a hug immediately. "It's just a dream," he said, trying to soothe her. "It's alright, Reflet, it's just a dream."

There was a loud strike of lightning outside, shocking Reflet as she jumped in her bed. "Thunder!" she yelped. She grabbed on to Chrom reflexively as she hid herself in his shirt, her body shaking even worse now.

Chrom checked the window beside her bed, noticing the black sky and heavy rainfall. "Did your dream make you scared of lightning storms?"

"I-I stabbed you in the chest with lightning!" she said, shaking his shirt even more quickly.

" _Huh,_ " Chrom said, raising his eyebrows. He hugged her tighter, petting her head. "You're gonna be fine, Reflet. Everything's going to be fine."

"I don't want to kill you, Chrom!" she said as she shook her head rapidly. "I don't I don't I don't!"

"And you won't," Chrom said. "I promise you I'll protect you from killing me."

Chrom continued to hug her, staying with her for several minutes until she finally stopped sobbing.

"Feeling better?" he said, stretching out his pinky.

Now she laid there, whimpering as she caught her breath. She weakly wrapped her finger around his own, nodding as she sniffled.

"...Thank you, Chrom," she said. "I had a bad nightmare, where I lost control of myself and I killed you."

"It's okay, Reflet. You haven't killed me yet," Chrom said, looking back outside. "Come on, I think we had enough rest for now. Let's get ready to head out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The joke title for this chapter was "No Marth, Only Air."


	13. Dance in the Skies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After much too long, I finally return! Here's a new chapter that I hope you all will enjoy!

"This must be the place." Donny put his hand on the door of the treasure vault, sliding it open.

"Sure is dark in here," he said as he put his candle on the table. He knew rich people had lots more money then he did, but he didn't realize how stacked Sir Chrom and his family were.

"Wow, there must be enough gold in here to feed a village for a couple of years. Probably more, really." But it was all so that they could run the country as smooth as oil was slick. At least that's what he'd read from his dad's old books. He took the loot bag off his back, shaking it down as he heard all the coins clink onto the gold pile.

"Alright, not another coin in here from the looks of it," he said as he stuffed the bag into his pocket. He should've left now since his job was done, but he couldn't help but admire all the wealth sitting here in this small room. Donny sifted his hand through all the treasure, picking up and staring in awe at all the gems, copper, gold and silver. His foot hit something while he checked out the gold pile, making him look down to find a dusty, green book with a weird symbol on the cover. It was shaped sort of like a bow and arrow, but if the bow was made with angel wings.

"What's this? A magic book?" he said, picking up the book off the ground. "A wind tome from the look of it, if the green cover's accurate."

He dusted the book off, opening it as he ran his finger on the first page on instinct.

"For…" he stopped, squinting as he stepped closer to the light. "Forseti? Like the guy in that one fairy tale my grandpa told me when I was a kid?" He continued to read through the book, growing curious when suddenly the words on the page began to glow a bright green light.

Donny's eyes widened as he watched the book glow brighter. "What in Tiki's name is happening?" The first word on the page, 'Forseti' shined the brightest out of all the other words in the text. The light from the name suddenly flared, blinding him with but the color of green.

Donny hastily shut the book closed, turning it off. "I probably shouldn't have done that!" He put down the book on the table, leaving the vault as he tried to forget what he just saw and did.

_Hey wait! Don't leave without the book!_

"Huh?! Who's there?" he said, turning around to look for whoever was callin' him.

_Get that book you just dropped!_

"Who are you?" he said anxiously. "And I'm sorry, but that book belongs to Lady Emmeryn and her family. I can't just take something that isn't mine!" Ohhh dangit, Donny, now you've gone and hecked it all up! You know you're not supposed to go around messin' with things that aren't yours!

_Look, that book isn't worth anything on it's own, but it belongs to me! And we're both going to be in even worse trouble if you don't take it with you! You don't want that to happen, do you?_

"Huh? Something bad'll happen to me?"

_Yes! Something extremely bad, so take it now!_

Suddenly his left arm moved itself, pulling him back inside the vault and taking the book off the table.

"Hey! Is that you taking control of my body?" he said.

_Yes! Now go!_

His arm pulled itself out of the vault alongside him, locking it before it blasted downstairs to his room in the barracks.

"Oh jeez, oh no, oh heck," he said, panicking as he sat on his bed with the stolen book in his hands. "Now what am I gonna do? Sir Chrom will probably tan my hide for taking this book without his permission!"

_Just calm down. That book hasn't been touched in over several decades. They probably forgot it even existed at this point._

"You're still following me? Where are you?"

_Inside your head._

"My head?" Donny said as he put his hand on his head. "How on earth did that even happen?"

_Simple, I possessed you._

"You possessed me? So then are you a ghost haunting me? Was it because I touched that book?"

_Hang on, I'm not a ghost haunting you, okay? Wait, actually that might be accurate. Listen, when you touched my book, I transferred my will onto you. And now you and I share this body. And there's nothing you or I can do about it, not unless you die or we find some way to separate ourselves from each other._

"Your will? You mean your spirit was in this book?" Donny lowered his eyes back to the book in his hand.

_Bingo. Congrats. Yes.  
_

Donny shook his head. This day was just getting crazier. Why on earth did he have to go and touch this gosh-darned ghost book?

_Oh my me, I wish that ginger-hair guy grabbed me instead. At least I wouldn't get stuck with some anxious kid who's a stickler for the rules._

"Of course I'mma stick to the rules. My mom will kill me if I don't!" Actually, she's probably too sweet for that, but she'll likely give him the sternest talking of his life.

_Well your mom is wonderful for trying to give you good morals. But listen, sometimes you need to steal for the greater good._

He furrowed his eyebrows, looking upwards at the ghost in his head. "And how is this the greater good?"

_I'll explain it… Later though._

"What do you mean later though?" he argued. "You made me steal a book, even if it was yours!"

_Gooodniiiight!_

And with that, the ghost suddenly went silent, no longer responding to anything he said or thought. Donny scratched his very confised head, opening up the book in an attempt to make heads of the situation.

"What the heck's goin' on today...?" All he did was touch the book no more than a minute, but now he put himself in the hottest mess in the world. As he continued to read, however, he found that his eyes were starting to close in on themselves. He was just too tired to keep up. It was probably midnight or later, and he was exhausted between this and the fighting from earlier. Knowing he had to wake up early for the mission tomorrow, he put the book back down on his desk, trying to nab what sleep he could in hopes he'd be rested enough for tomorrow.

* * *

_March 13,_

Reflet clutched her chest as she got out of her bed, making her way to the main hall. The pain from everything that went on yesterday still lingered inside her. She looked out the large window, looking at the black sky as its rain poured to the earth.

"Hello there, Reflet," Emmeryn said, walking up from behind her. Reflet looked to her right to see her frowning, looking lost in thought.

"Hi Emmeryn," she said, waving at her.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you last night," Emmeryn said. "You've been through quite a lot."

Reflet nodded silently.

"We still have quite some time before we head out," Emmeryn said. "Would you like to talk with me?"

"Okay," she said. She let herself be led by Emmeryn as they left the entrance, heading up to the second floor of the palace.

"Where are we going?" Reflet said.

"To the library," Emmeryn said. "Whenever I find myself in deep thought, I often go here."

They reached a large door leading to the library. Emmeryn opened the door, leading to a big room with several bookshelves lining every single corner. A few other Shepherds were also here. Liz glanced up from the book she was reading, nodding silently with a smile before looking back down. Miriel lost herself in her studies, flipping through two books at the same time. Gaius rested his cheek on his broom, giving Wayne an annoyed look as the blue-haired archer dismissively sipped his tea.

"Over here," Emmeryn said, leading her to one of the tables in the library. She took a seat across from Reflet, gesturing for her to sit down. Reflet sat down, staring back at her.

"How are you feeling, Reflet?" she asked.

Reflet slowly breathed in, lightly scratching her chest with her pinky. "...Hurt," she said. There were too many things hurting her. Taking the life of that woman. That man who attacked her and the things he said. Her nightmare. And of course, Mar-Mar leaving her.

Emmeryn nodded at her calmly. "That man from last night, you were the one who he attacked first, is that right? Do you know why he did so?"

"I don't," Reflet said, shaking her head. "But he said I had some kind of destiny I needed to fulfill, and then he tried to drag me back with him."

"A destiny to fulfill?" Emmeryn asked. "Why would he say that? Perhaps he knew who you were before you were afflicted with amnesia?"

"That…" Reflet lowered her head closer to the table as she let out a sigh. "Might explain why he kept calling me his son." Reflet shivered as the word 'son' left her mouth. She put a hand on her other elbow, rubbing it in a stilted manner.

"That's right," Emmeryn said. "You mentioned that last night. I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

Reflet rubbed her fingers harder on her elbow as she slowly brought her eyes to Emmeryn. "...Am I really his son? Does that make me a boy?"

Emmeryn took a breath as she put her elbow on the table, resting her chin between her fingers. She looked back at Reflet, shaking her head. "Do you wish to be a boy?"

"No… I don't," Reflet said, clutching down on her skin. "The thought of being a boy, it terrifies me. I don't want to be a boy. I don't want to."

"Then I would say you're not a boy," Emmeryn said. "I think you've been a girl like you've always said so."

"...Why?" Reflet asked. "What makes me a girl? Why am I one? If that guy really was my dad and he's calling me a boy, doesn't that mean it's because I really am a boy? I thought I was a girl when I first woke up, and I didn't have another reason to think anything else. It just felt right to me." She looked back down, squeezing down harder in her fear. "But was it just a mistake this entire time?"

"I'm not sure if he truly is your father as he claimed, and I sadly cannot prove whether or not that is the case," Emmeryn said, shaking her head. "But as to why you're a girl, you are a girl because you say you want to be one. At least that is what I believe."

Reflet brought her eyes back up. "What do you mean?"

"I'm saying, for example, if my brother were to tell me he was a girl, I would believe him and see him as one. I don't see why I shouldn't do so. Now the question is, do you want to be a girl, Reflet?"

"Yes, I do," she said, turning her head before pressing her cheek into her other shoulder. "I really, really want to be a girl. I liked being a girl so far, and it's made me happy. I still want to be one real badly."

"Then you are one, Reflet." Emmeryn got out of her seat and moved over to her, pulling her into a soft hug. "You are a girl, okay Reflet?"

Reflet looked up at her from her seat, watching her smile down at her. "Are you sure? I want to be a girl, but I don't know… "

Emmeryn gently rubbed her head. "I think it's fine to not be sure of yourself. Perhaps you might feel better if more people were to call you a girl." She lifted her head up, giggling to herself another time. "I have a friend who's name is Reflet. I think she's a rather adorable girl."

Reflet's cheeks slowly turned warm when she said that. "Myaa…"

Emmeryn giggled again, waving over to Liz. "Liz, could you come over here?"

"Sure, what's up?" Liz said, moving towards her.

"Reflet's a cute girl, right?" Emmeryn said.

Liz nodded, patting Reflet's head with a smile on her face. "Yep, a cute girl is what she is."

Reflet squeaked again as her face burned even hotter. A smile cracked through and a giggle slithered out as she sheepishly hid her head, reaching to her back only to grab the air as she brought her arm forward.

"Huh?" she said as she gripped the air once again. She turned around, frowning as she looked backwards.

"What's wrong Reflet?" Liz asked.

"My cloak, it's gone," she said. She looked down at her clothes. She was in the outfit she bought from the store with Liz. They still felt lovely, but it wasn't just wasn't the same without her hood. Not having her hood made her realize just how much she missed it. And now it was nothing but a pile of ash thanks to her desperate attack on that man who chased her down.

"Oh, right," Liz said. "I'm sorry you lost it, Reflet."

"It's okay," she said, touching the sleeves of her shirt.

Emmeryn frowned for a moment before turning to Liz. "Hmm, why don't we make you a new one?"

"A new jacket?" Reflet asked, turning to her.

"That's a great idea!" Liz said cheerfully. "I'll ask Maribelle about it!"

"I'm sure she would be fine with it, wouldn't she?" Emmeryn said.

"Maribelle?" Reflet said, tapping her fingers together. "Are you sure she would do that for me? I do want to be her friend, but is that alright to ask?"

"Don't worry, it's our treat! And I don't think she'd say no to me and Emm, especially if I'm the one asking. She loves sewing things, and she's great at it, too! Let's get you a new cloak!"

"Well, if it's okay with you all, then I'd like to get that hood," she said, bringing her hands closer to her chest. "It'd make up for the loss of the old one."

"Alright, then it's settled!" Liz said. "I'll ask her later, okay?"

"Of course," Emmeryn said. "Well, we still have some time before we head out today. What will you do until then, Liz?"

"I'm going to keep studying up on my magic," she said. "And you two?"

"I was thinking about asking Reflet if she would like to train with me," Emmeryn said, turning to Reflet. "Would you like to do so?"

"Training? I don't know," Reflet said. "I could do it, but I don't like training that much." She looked down at the table, pouting as she grumbled out her words. "Cordie keeps beating me in sword fights. I don't fight with swords, so how am I supposed to beat someone who does."

Emmeryn giggled at her. "We'll be training magic instead. I think I'd have something I'd like to show you."

"I guess if it's magic, then that's okay," Reflet stopped pouting, nodding her head. "Alright, let's do it."

"Great, follow me then." Emmeryn held a smile on her face as she waved goodbye to Liz, taking Reflet with her out the library to go train.

* * *

"Come on, you've got this, Reflet!" Emmeryn said, shaking her fists as she encouraged her to keep going.

"Hnnng… Gyahh!" Reflet said. The light in her ring flickered out, turning its color back to a dull gray from the shining yellow from before. She put a hand on her head, exhausted. "Hah… Hahh…"

"You're doing well. Let's take a moment to rest for now," Emmeryn said. The two of them sat back down at the table they were using underneath the roofed shelter of the training yard. The rain hit down on the roof above and the floor in front of them, creating a heavy yet gentle noise around them.

"It's still so dark out, what time is it?" Reflet asked as she looked above to see the sky still completely black.

"Last I checked it was six," Emmeryn said, turning her head to the sky. "It's been raining at least since we both woke up."

"I just hope there's no more thunder," Reflet said as she rubbed her shoulder nervously.

"I hope the same, and that the rain lets up soon," she said. "These conditions could make travelling through Breakneck Pass more difficult." She smiled. "Though, it would make travelling much cooler temperature-wise. And perhaps we could avoid any sort of confrontation under the guise of the rain. Both bandits and Plegia would have trouble spotting us with how dark it is, for example."

"Plegia… Do you think they'll be able to find us at the city we're going to?" Reflet asked.

"I think it would be rather difficult," Emmeryn said. "Word couldn't have spread so quickly enough to reach Gangrel in time. Even still, we're bringing the Shepherds and the Pegasus Knights with us to ensure our safety should we be forced to fight, though I do wish we didn't have to fight at all."

Reflet bit on her cheek, turning back to Emmeryn. "I was talking to Chrom last night, and he said that you wanted to try to get Gangrel to stop this war. Is that true? Could we really stop this war early?"

"I don't know, but I would like to try. I don't believe that Gangrel wished to start a war as my brother thinks." Emmeryn brought herself closer to Reflet. "If he wanted to start a war, then don't you think it's strange that he asked us to ally with him beforehand? And then there's the fact he only asked to borrow the Fire Emblem when he needed it, rather than keep it with him."

Reflet knitted her eyebrows, tilting her head sideways. "You're right, that does seem a little strange."

"I thought the same," Emmeryn said. "My brother believes that he was the one that sent those assassins for us yesterday. But if that truly was the case, then it would also go against him wanting to ally with us. If we were to fall, then he would have not only denied himself allies with us, but with Ferox as well. What purpose would that even serve him, then?"

"...I don't, get it. What is he trying to do?" Reflet crossed one arm over the other as she tried to think of a reason for his actions. In the end, however, she came up empty-handed.

"That's what I'd like to find out," Emmeryn said. "We need more answers before we can make rash decisions. Too many things simply don't add up cleanly. That was what I was trying to tell my brother earlier, though he doesn't believe me." She shook her head. "But I suppose there's little we can do now. Yet if there were a way to end this war without having to take another life, I would want more than anything to take it."

Reflet lowered her eyes, watching the rain land down on the floor. "Yeah, me too..." Knowing what Chrom told her about the war they lived through, she understood why Emmeryn wanted peace so badly. Besides, she wanted that peace as well. If the war ended quickly, less people would have to die. And of course, it was also what Marth wanted.

_"Marth…"_

Reflet sulked as the thought of her friend drifted into her mind. She rested her chin on the table, puffing her cheeks up.

"Is something the matter, Reflet?" Emmeryn asked.

"I miss Marth," she said, lifting her head up. "I wanted her to stay with us. She seemed so happy when we did things together. Like that time when we went to Anna's shop or when she'd talk to either Chrom or me. And…" she trailed off, hugging herself as her face grew warm. "When I was crying after I killed someone yesterday, she was the one who comforted me afterwards."

"I can see why her leaving would impact you so much. From how you speak of her, it seems you two were rather close friends."

"I thought so too. She was my friend, at least I thought of her as one, but, I guess she didn't think the same…" Reflet turned away from her, lowering her eyes. She found herself letting out a sniffle as she brought a hand to her heart.

She shook her head at Reflet. "I don't quite think that's the case."

"Huh?" Reflet said, bringing her eyes back up. "What do you mean?"

"When I had talked to her before she left, she seemed rather worried for you."

Reflet took in a breath, making small nods. "She really was. Especially right after the match was over. She came into my room and got mad at me, saying I shouldn't do attacks like that again. She said it was reckless and got me more hurt than I should've." Reflet touched her wrists, remembering how dark they were from their injuries. "But, I did what I needed to do to win. We might not have won if she never got back up after she got knocked down by Lon'qu. It was the first thing I thought of that could give her the moment she needed to win." She told Emmeryn of the events that transpired during that day, of how the two of them fought together and the events leading up to the tournament and afterwards.

"Well, I would agree with Marth that your attack was reckless, even though it was ultimately what was necessary," Emmeryn said.

"Yeah, but it's not like she can't be reckless. You should have seen her when we first met. I found her passing out in the training yard because she trained to the point where she couldn't stand anymore." She crossed her arms, quickly bringing them up and down as she humphed. "And then I had to drag her back inside while walking barefoot on the cold floor outside. It was very cold!" She grumbled, bringing her feet to the chair to sit cross-legged. "I told her not to train so hard like that again, but she didn't want to listen to me at all, and was going to do it again if I didn't pull her away."

Emmeryn giggled at her, giving her a teasing smirk. "Well, perhaps the both of you should consider taking each other's advice."

"Wah—?" Reflet said, her face quickly burning up. She turned her head away, pouting furiously. "I don't like seeing Mar-Mar get hurt, okay?!"

Emmeryn giggled even more. "Well, it's good to see that you two look out for one another. From the way you talk to me about her, I can tell that even though she left, she really did care for you."

Reflet picked her head back up, looking back at her. "Yeah, she did, thanks Emmeryn," she said, smiling at her.

"Of course," Emmeryn said, getting out of her seat. "I think our break is over. It's time to try to learn the spell again, alright?"

Reflet quickly nodded. "Yep." She got out of her own seat, clutching the grey, bracelet-like ring in her hand again. It softly shined as she channeled her energy into it, though could hardly glow any brighter.

"You're doing better this time," Emmeryn said, watching her carefully. Reflet held her eyelids shut tight as she struggled to make the light shine brighter, yet just like before, the light in the ring flickered away into nothing.

"Argh!" Reflet said in defeat. She put her hand on her head, being left with a nasty headache. "How do you make so many of those light rings?"

"Mastering light magic is not a day's task," Emmeryn said. "You have a long way to go if you are to become as skilled as me. It takes a great deal of focus to be able to keep one binding ring active at a time, and even more so to create more than one at once." Emmeryn stretched her palm out, bringing it to Reflet. "Like fire and lightning, light shines in the darkness and provides light to the world. But it does so in a soft way. It is a gentle element, much like water."

Emmeryn's palm began to shine softly before growing brighter. Light lifted itself up from her hand, suspending itself in the shape of a circle as it hovered above her palm. It slowly twirled around as it solidified, turning into a shining, gold ring.

"There we go!" Emmeryn said, presenting to Reflet a binding ring.

"Woah!" Reflet said in awe. She stared at the ring with widened eyes, bringing her face closer to it as she tapped a finger on the ring. "It's completely solid, and it's not fading away like the light in my ring!"

"Light magic has a reputation for being one of the weakest elements there is to learn. Many believe that with the time one takes mastering it, one could learn another element and benefit more than you ever could from light spells in both power and utility." Emmeryn swirled her index finger around twice, making the light ring do two loops before it slipped itself onto Reflet's arm. The ring shrunk in size and grew thinner, turning into a bracelet that fit snug on her wrist.

"Pretty!" Reflet said, touching her bracelet. She lifted her arm up and down, and her movements weren't being prevented by the ring.

"As a result, you might not see too many light wielders, though there are quite a few practitioners within our country," Emmeryn said, releasing the ring. "Still, I have faith that you'll become a great spellcaster in the future. In time and with training, your skills will grow into something much more."

Reflet smiled at Emmeryn as she said those words, giggling at her. "Thank you, Emmeryn."

She picked her training ring back up, readying herself to train before being stopped when Donny walked up to them.

"Good morning, Reflet and Lady Emmeryn!" Donny said.

"Donny, hi!" she said, waving at him. Donny smiled back, rubbing his cheek with his hand.

"Hello there, Donny. What brings you here?" Emmeryn said.

"I was actually thinking if you could teach me something, if you don't mind, Miss Emmeryn."

"Of course, what would you like to learn?"

"Well, do you know anything about a certain old fairy tale?" Donny said, taking his seat. "The one where there's these twelve people who all fought in an ancient war together."

"Ah, you mean the Twelve Crusaders. You know it's not just a fairy tale, they existed long ago in the continent of Jugdral."

"Jugdral?" Reflet parroted. "That's a continent?"

"Yes," Emmeryn said. "Jugdral is a continent south of Archanea and Valentia. It does take some time to reach on sea, but it's not the furthest away from us."

"Huh, is that so?" Donny said, rubbing his neck. "That's pretty impressive. I never learned much about history. I only have what my family taught me to go off of. Do you think you could tell me about those people? What's their story?"

"Their story? It's quite the tale to tell," Emmeryn said as she took her seat, with Reflet doing the same. "Long ago, there was an ancient and evil empire in Jugdral, the Loptyrian Empire. It was ruled by a man named Galle and his descendants, who together committed countless atrocities against the people of Jugdral for centuries. Eventually, the people rose against the Empire, starting a rebellion that was led by the Twelve Crusaders. These Twelve Crusaders were powerful warriors led by Heim, a man blessed with the blood of Naga."

"Naga, what's that?" Reflet asked.

"You've never heard of Naga?" Emmeryn said with surprise.

She shook her head. "I've heard people say things like 'Dear Naga,' and 'Dear Forseti' a bunch of times, but I never understood what they meant. I even said Dear Tiki once, but that's because I just kept hearing everyone say it."

"Very well," Emmeryn said. "Naga is known as the Divine Dragon King. Long ago, there existed a tribe of powerful beings known as dragons, who protected humanity and blessed them with their powers. She was the strongest dragon of all, and those who she blessed with her powers and weapons have saved the world time and time again. As thanks for her benevolence, she is revered as a god here in Ylisse." Emmeryn pointed to the mark on her forehead. "Do you see this? This is the Mark of Naga. It is proof that her blood runs through my veins."

"Woah, you have her blood?" Reflet said, moving to get a closer look at the grey mark on her head.

Emmeryn nodded. "From her fangs she created the Queensfang and the Fire Emblem, and from her will she created the Book of Naga. These three weapons are considered to be Legendary Relics, which is the name given to some of the strongest weapons to have ever existed. Of these three weapons, it is the Book of Naga that is the most ancient and powerful. The only ones who can wield these weapons are certain descendants in the royal family bloodline. For example, my brother and I can wield the Queensfang, yet my sister cannot."

"Why can't Liz do it?" Reflet asked.

"Naga's weapons choose their wielders individually regardless of whether the wielder carries her blood or not. Even amongst the Legendary Relics whose full powers can only be used by those who carry their dragon's blood, Naga's weapons are some of the most selective of them all. This is for better or for worse, as such powerful weapons should not be in the hands of just anyone, especially those with ill intent. They should only be used for the protection of others, and for the good of all."

"Protectors of all, huh?" Reflet said. She lowered her eyes, thinking to herself. The more she learned about them, the more Chrom's family kept turning out to be full of surprises. Descendants of those who saved the world, who have the blood of an ancient and powerful dragon flowing through them. There was a lot more to them than just a brother and sister who picked her off the ground that day. And despite their importance, they still decided to take her in, when she still didn't even know who she herself was.

 _Just who am I?_ she wondered. She still had no grasp of who she was or where she came from. Her friends treated her like one of their own, but she didn't even know if she was born in this country. And there was still that strange blank part of her life from before she woke up in that field under that tree. The fact that she seemingly remembered certain sounds and feelings but not the full picture tugged at her brain, making her grow restless.

"What about a man named Forseti?" Donny asked. "What's his deal? And what was his weapon like?"

"You wish to know about Forseti?" Emmeryn asked.

"Yeah, and did his weapon have the same thing that the Queensfang and Book of Naga have? Do people who can wield it have to have his blood?"

"You seem to be very curious about him," Emmeryn said with a smile. "I'm a little curious to know why, myself."

"Well, uh, that's cause my dad and grandad mentioned him a lot whenever they told me one of those fairy tales. He just kind of popped into my head—" Donny clenched his teeth as he suddenly stopped, shifting his eyes away from them. "I mean, he was the first I thought of. Do you think you could tell me about him please, Lady Emmeryn?"

"Okay then, then I think we should start with who Forseti was," Emmeryn said. "Forseti of the Wind was one of the dragons who banded together with Naga and the Twelve Crusaders during the First Holy War of Jugdral, when they fought against the Loptyrian Empire. He was said to be whimsical, yet compassionate, and was described as like the wind itself. He blessed the crusader Ced with the legendary wind tome, Forseti, which he named after himself."

"So Forseti is both his name and his weapon's name," Donny said. "Got it."

Emmeryn nodded. "As for the weapon itself, it is correct that only those selected by the book itself can wield its full power. Those who lack the blood of Forseti historically paid heavy costs when using his spell, as it took a tremendous amount of energy to cast. Though there hasn't been a known wielder of the Book of Forseti since the last wielder died during the Schism. As a result, it has been hidden in the palace vault for safekeeping."

"I see…" Donny clenched his fist, shaking his head before nodding at Emmeryn. "Thank you for telling me about him and the Crusaders, Miss Emmeryn. I think that's all I have to ask for now."

"Of course," Emmeryn said. "I'm always happy to teach others. Though I must be going now. I need to make sure we'll be ready to leave within the hour." She got out of her seat, making her way back inside the palace. "Thank you for training with me, Reflet. And thank you for coming to see me, Donny. I quite enjoyed seeing you both."

"See ya, Emmeryn," Reflet said, waving her off.

"She really is something amazing, isn't she?" Donny said. "I'm sure glad she's the one leading Ylisse. I'd never imagined the queen to be so nice."

"Yeah, she really is. She's nice, skilled, smart, and pretty, too." She hoped they'd be able to get her to safety today. It was important, not just for the Shepherds, but for Marth, too. From what she gathered from last night, keeping her alive was his true goal all along.

"Hey, how have you been feeling, Reflet?" Donny turned to her, giving her a nervous look. "You were lookin' under the weather last night, you know? I just hope you're feeling better is all."

"Yeah, I am thanks to Emmeryn and Liz," she said, smiling at him. "And thanks for asking, it makes me happy."

"Of course, Reflet." Donny chuckled, patting his hair. "Say, do you think I could take a look at your dagger now? I haven't got the chance to ask about it until now."

"My dagger?" Reflet said. She quickly tried checking the pockets in her hood and pants, only to remember that A. She had no hood. And B. Her pants had no pockets. "Wait, it's not on me," she said with a pout.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Umm… Maybe in my room? I'll be right back." She left to her room, returning with her dagger and handing it to Donny. Donny raised his eyebrows as he took the dagger from her, taking close looks at the knife.

"Woah, it really is beautiful," Donny said, rotating the knife. "Say, what's this at the bottom of the hilt right here?" He showed her the hilt, letting her see the inscription she noticed back in Felia.

"I think that's meant to be my old first name alongside my last name," she said.

"Right, you picked out a new name when we first met," Donny said. "So you've got a last name, huh? Amni, heh, it sure makes for a cute one."

Reflet blushed, rubbing her cheek with the side of her hand. "Aww, thanks. I don't know what that date means, though."

"Hmm, maybe it's when you were born?" Donny said, looking up and down at her. "You do look around the same age as me, and I'm eighteen. So I'd be willing to bet my hide that that might be the case." He chuckled again, looking back at the date. "Heh, if that's true then you're a Tikimas baby. But if it isn't true, then it might be the date when this knife was made."

"So you think it might be my birthday or when it was made?" Reflet said.

"Most likely," Donny said. "Either way, it'll probably tell us more about you." He squinted at the dagger, putting it in his pocket. "Hey, I got an idea. Follow me, okay?" He left the training yard, heading inside the palace.

"Huh?" Reflet said. She followed after him, reaching the main hallway where they found Anna crouched down as she filled up a large bag with an assortment of supplies.

"Heya! I'm getting my shop ready for when we leave," Anna said as she put some magic tomes in the bag.

"What did you bring me here for?" Reflet asked Donny, waving at Anna.

Donny took out her knife from his pocket, showing it to Anna. "Hey Anna, do you think you could take a look at this golden dagger?"

"A dagger?" she said, taking it. "Sure, what do you need to know?"

"Do you think you can tell us more about it? We're trying to figure out where it was made," Donny said.

Reflet's eyes widened as she looked him in the eyes. "You're trying to find out where it was made?"

"Eheh, yeah. I figured it'll give us a lead on where you come from," Donny said. He played with his hair, grinning ear to ear at her.

"Hmm… Well, for starters, it's not gold," Anna said, flipping the dagger upside down as she read the inscription. "If it was gold, it wouldn't be so light and sharp. That could mean it's either plated or gilded with gold, or it's runite."

"Runite?" Reflet asked. That wasn't a metal she knew about.

"It's a fairly rare metal. With the right amount of work, it acts as a great battery for storing and releasing magical energy. In other words, if you wanna make a magic weapon not made out of wood or paper, you use this. Now, I'm sure one of the people I know could give us a lead on where it came from, but I'm going to have to borrow your dagger from you until then." She pointed the hilt at her, lightly waving it around. "And it might take awhile for you to get it back, is that alright?"

Reflet furrowed her eyebrows as she thought for a moment. If it meant she would be able to figure out who she was, then lending it was clearly the obvious choice. "Of course, thank you Anna," she said.

"Great! Then I'll just keep this here!" Anna put Reflet's dagger inside her merchant bag, lifting it on her back. "Don't worry about paying me back, by the way! I'm sure I'll get more than my money's worth getting you to buy more of my stuff." She waved them off, leaving the two to themselves.

Reflet turned back to her friend, giving him a wide smile. She moved close to him, wrapping her arms tightly around him as thanks.

"Thanks, Donny," she said.

"Of course," Donny said with a chuckle. "We probably won't have the time to do it for a while, not until the war is over, but when the war is over, what do you think about looking around with me to figure out where you came from? Maybe we can learn something about you by doing so."

"That'd be great." She hugged him tighter, giggling. Donny pulled himself away from her, turning his head to the side as he started speaking to himself.

"Oh hush, I just wanna help my friend," he whispered. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking upwards as if he was talking to someone else.

"Huh?" Reflet said. "Is something up, Donny?"

"Huh?!" Donny said, looking back at her. "Ah! I was just talking to myself! It's nothing at all!" He rubbed his head, smiling nervously at her with flushed cheeks.

"Okay, but if you need any help, I'll be here for you, okay?"

"Eheh, thanks Reflet. Don't worry about me though, I'll be alright." Donny looked away from her, turning to the front gate where the others were. "Anyways, it looks like the others are getting ready to head out finally. We should get going!" With that, he hurriedly caught up to them, gesturing for her to catch up.

"Hmm." Reflet pouted as she quickly followed after him. Come to think of it, he also got nervous like this when they were talking about those crusaders. Donny did say not to worry about it, but Reflet couldn't help but feel something was up. Either way, it looked like it was time to get going.

* * *

The Shepherds headed out of the palace, making their way eastward through the country and towards the city of Mostyn. If they were going to get there quickly enough, they needed to go through Breakneck Pass.

Cordelia wasn't particularly excited about that. Breakneck Pass was notorious for its danger. The mountain range it crossed through was one of the most perilous there was. Not solely due to the difficulty trekking the lengthy cliff sides of the mountain, but also because of how often bandits would hold themselves within the pass. Bandits just loved hiding in dangerous mountains, didn't they? Though none were spotted on the way here, Cordelia had her rapier drawn in hand, just in case something went wrong.

"How long have we been walking?" Liz whined, hunching herself over with droopy arms. "I'm tired of walking up and down this mountain."

"Four hours," Frederick answered. "We've got two more hours of walking to go, and we'll take a break in one."

"One hour is too long," Reflet said, being in the same state as Liz. She straightened her back up, pointing to the old man in green robes up ahead. "Who's the guy talking to Chrom and Emmeryn?"

"He is the hierarch," Frederick said. "He guided Emmeryn during her early years of ruling, and still does so whenever he is called upon. He'll be accompanying her while she resides in the eastern palace."

"If we ever get to the eastern palace in the first place," Liz said. "Why are we even walking when we could've brought our carriages?"

"We couldn't afford to take our carriages through the pass, not with this many people." Cordelia looked to the side of the road which steeply dropped off into the ravine below. She was extra careful to stay as far away as she could from it, unlike the last time she was here.

"Looks like our scouts are returning," Frederick said. From up above, their fliers landed back down, lining themselves up behind their other horses. The Pegasus Knights got off their horses, with Sumia getting down alongside them.

"Hey Cordie!" Sumia said.

Cordelia smiled, catching up to her. "How'd your first scouting mission go?" she asked. While Sumia wasn't a Pegasus Knight, as Cordelia had lent her pegasus to her, she was allowed to scout alongside them.

"It went well. The knights are going to report to Phila. We didn't find any bandits."

"That's great, then this should be easier than we thought," she said. She was thankful that the Pegasus Knights were here, so long as she didn't have to get close to any of them—

"Oh my gods! Is that Cordelia?"

 _"Oh my gods, no,"_ Cordelia whispered. She recognized that voice, turning her eyes to see _that_ woman again. She didn't look too different from when they last saw each other. That spiky blonde hair, that white-colored armor that all fliers like Phila and herself wore. She wasn't the type of person who was easy to forget about.

"...Skye," she said, quietly letting out a sigh after saying her name.

"What are you doing? Where have you been?" Skye said, casually walking towards her. The smirk on her face and the look in her blue eyes told her that she was more than happy to see her. "I haven't seen you since you left the Pegasus Knights!"

 _Probably because I didn't want to see you._ Cordelia took a deep breath as she tried to focus on the steps ahead. "I'm with the Shepherds now. The change has been kind to me."

"Good for you, and are you still a flier? I didn't see you up there with the others. What happened out there, genius?"

Cordelia winced, clenching her teeth over being called a genius once again. "Not currently. I've lent Catria to Sumia until we can get her a horse of her own." She looked over to Sumia, letting out another sigh as her friend nodded in agreement.

"That explains it. It'd be a shame if the Little Lady Genius gave up flying forever." Skye covered her mouth with a hand, giggling as she turned to Sumia. "You're a good flier, by the way. Not better than me, but then again who is?"

"Thanks," Sumia said, rather bluntly Cordelia might add.

"So, Cordie!" Skye said, ribbing her in the chest with her elbow. "You never told me what the reason was that you left us. Come on, say it!"

She crossed her arms, rolling her eyes when she wasn't looking. "I simply thought it would be a good idea."

"Come on, you really think I'd buy that?" Skye leaned in closer, raising her eyebrows repeatedly. "Hey, are you trying to get Mr. Tightass Lowell over there?"

"Ghh!" Cordie grunted out as she winced again, blowing air out of her mouth.

Skye leered at Chrom, putting on a smarmy smirk. "It's no surprise why you'd want a catch like him. He's very pleasing to the eye. You wouldn't mind if I steal him from you, would you?"

"Hey! Back off!" Sumia snapped at her.

"Huh?" Skye's jaw dropped before she quickly closed it shut, sticking her nose up at Sumia. "What makes you think you can just tell me to back off? You're not a Pegasus Knight, why do you care?"

"I don't need to be a knight to see that you're being a jerk to her! Leave her alone!"

Skye scrunched her face as she stared back at Sumia. "Hmph, fine. See you later, genius." She turned her head away, leaving the two of them alone.

"Sorry about that, Cordie," Sumia said. "She just pushed too many of my buttons."

"It's alright," she said, smiling. "I was just about tired of dealing with her. At least it's over now."

"Right, let's keep going." They continued to march ahead, nearly reaching the point where they should've taken their break. Things were going well but soon an unexpected yet distinct flapping of wings were heard from up above, putting Cordelia on high alert.

"Wyvern Riders!" she shouted, pointing above.

"What the—?" Chrom said. A squad of wyverns swooped downwards, with three of their archers readying their arrows as they aimed straight for Chrom.

"Chrom!" Cordelia shouted in terror. The archers let loose their arrows as Cordie rushed over to Chrom to save him. She pushed him out of the way just before the arrows could hit him, taking the hit for herself.

"Gaa-ah!" Cordelia screamed, clutching her chest as the three arrows pierced it alongside her stomach and left leg. She collapsed to the ground, feeling a burning sensation across her entire body.

"Cordie!" Chrom shouted, getting down on his knees as he grasped her shoulder. "Somebody get a healer!"

* * *

"Damn it, Cordie, stay with me!" Chrom shouted with dread in his voice. She was in really bad shape. Her arms were shaking as she struggled to keep herself together. She was breathing heavily, clutching onto the most severe wounds she had. Three arrows all at once like that were enough to take most people out of a fight.

"Cordie!" he screamed again, gripping on her tighter with worry.

"Hel… Helllp…." she said weakly. She closed her half-lid eyes tightly as she gasped in pain again. Dear Naga, please let her make it out of this.

The wyverns circled around again, revealing that there was a second passenger alongside the rider on top of the wyvern's back. The passengers jumped off their backs, landing on their feet before rushing straight at them. Leading them was Gangrel, running headfirst with his sword raised at him.

"Chaaaarrrrrge!" Gangrel shouted. He grinned at Chrom, throwing his other hand forward as his soldiers blitzed towards them.

"Damn you, Gangrel!" Chrom shouted at the sight of him. He drew his blade, rushing forward at the king. "I'll kill you for this!"

"You can try!" Gangrel shouted back. The wyvern leading its squad roared, dropping down alongside five others as they circled around the Shepherds, closing in on them.

Frederick shouted out orders, "Archers, aim for their fliers! Mages, attack the wyverns approaching from the ground!"

"Chrom, wait!" Emmeryn shouted, but Chrom spent no time listening. This man put his friend's life in grave danger. He needed to end this before she bled out, now!

"Gaaangrel!" he shouted as he reached him, slashing his blade forward. Gangrel clashed blades with him, grinning as he pushed against him.

"Were you going somewhere, Prince?" Gangrel said. He jumped backwards, pointing his sword forwards. "Get him!" he shouted, and an axeman and lancer focused on him, blocking his path as Gangrel ran away. The axeman swung his axe downwards, making Chrom dodge backwards as he was forced to fight them.

"Get back here, you damn bastard!" Chrom shouted. He disarmed the axeman, only to find himself blocked on his next swing by the wooden shaft of the other man's lance. Damn it, these guys needed to get the hell out of his way!

"Aether!" he shouted. His sword caught on fire as he slid it forward, grazing the lancer's neck as the shaft caught aflame. The lance broke in half as he sliced downwards through the soldier's chest, thrusting his blade in and ripping it out before focusing his attention on the axeman. The lancer clutched his wounds, lying there dead between the shattered, flaming pieces of lance.

"Woah, uhh…" The axeman looked at Chrom in surprise as he picked up his axe, hesitating for a moment before tightening his grip on it. He let out a battle cry, readying himself as Chrom stepped forward. He sidestepped Chrom's swing, bringing his axe down again only for Chrom to slide past it, delivering two strikes to his side and catching his clothes on fire. The axeman panicked, trying to put the flames out before Chrom stabbed him through the heart, taking his life.

There was no time for these fights. Chrom searched the battlefield for that red-haired bastard of a king. He was running away again, trying to catch up with a Wyvern Rider lining themselves up with him.

"Haaah!" Chrom bent his knees forward before he kicked off the ground, shooting through the air. He soared past Gangrel before landing with a roll, picking himself back up and slashing immediately at his neck.

"Woah!" Gangrel bent his neck backwards as he stepped out of the way. "You don't see that everyday!"

"Stop playing these games and fight!" Chrom said as he kept pressuring Gangrel with his attacks. "I was right when I called that you were the one behind the assassination attempt! How else would you know we left the palace already?"

Gangrel dodged another thrust to his chest, rolling to the ground as he twisted around another stab to his neck. "What the hell are you talking about? I swear, you're so quick to jump to conclusions, Prince! You're telling me that someone placed a hit on you last night? This is news to me, because I never heard about it until just right now!" Gangrel chuckled nervously as he pushed himself back up, throwing his hand up as he jumped backwards away from him.

"Gotcha!" The Wyvern Rider swooped down over to him, taking him by the arm. The wyvern spun around in the air, flapping its wings in place as the rider lifted Gangrel on board.

"Later, dork!" Gangrel said as he got on his knees, pointing straight ahead. "Forward!"

Chrom chased after the wyvern as it took off. "You're not getting away!" He blasted into the air again with great force, reaching the wyvern at the very height of his jump.

"You're going down!" Chrom plunged his flaming blade into the thick and leathery hide of one of its back legs. It screeched in pain, struggling violently as it tried to shake Chrom off of it.

"Holy shit!" Gangrel's eyes flared as Chrom held onto the back of the wyvern, nearly pulling himself up when the wyvern spun around in its anguish, shaking everyone riding atop it as it began to descend quickly.

"Gale!" the rider said, struggling to keep himself on the reins. The wyvern crashed landed on its feet, shaking both Gangrel and Chrom off of it and towards the edge of the ravine. Chrom took a violent tumble as he inched dangerously close to the cliff, grasping for his blade as it almost fell.

"The Queensfang!" he said as he was barely able to catch it, snagging only the very end of its hilt. He did catch it however, struggling before he rolled away from the cliff. Gangrel took a similar fall, catching himself early and being the first to get up as he tightly held onto his hip.

"Vasto! Can he still fly?" Gangrel backpedaled away from Chrom, getting ready to escape once again.

"Maybe!" he said as he checked his wyvern's wound. "But it will be a bumpy one!"

"That's good enough!" He drew his rapier, flaring it downwards to the cliff before pointing it at Chrom. "Enough of this, come at me, prince!"

The rider nodded at him, patting his wyvern's leg. "Sorry buddy, but we're gonna need you to pull through for one last flight! We'll get you fixed up as soon as we can, kay?"

The wyvern let out a screeching roar, running forward before taking off into the air once again.

Chrom grunted as he pulled himself on his feet, raising his sword at Gangrel. "You'll pay for everything you've done today, Gangrel! I'll send you off this cliff if it's the last thing I do!"

"I'm sure you will!" Gangrel said with a snarky laugh. The two of them rushed forward, ready to clash blades one final time. Chrom weaved past Gangrel's thrust, slashing at Gangrel's neck from the left side for the killing blow.

Gangrel, however, suddenly began cackling loudly, giving a mocking grin to Chrom. He jumped off towards the right, staring at Chrom with wide eyes as the Queensfang slid right by him.

"Huh?!" Chrom's jaw dropped as he turned to the side, watching Gangrel fall down from the ravine.

"Goodbye, Prince!" Gangrel dropped out of Chrom's sight. Then only seconds after, a wyvern soared upwards from the ravine, letting out another booming roar.

"This is game over!" Gangrel said, crouched down on the wyvern's back as he held onto the rider's back. He lifted the arm he was holding his hip with, pulling out a black and gold book with a hammer symbol. He opened the book, creating a surge of violent, blue lightning sparks that cracked the air atop it.

"You're not the only one who wields a Legendary Relic! I always have an ace up my sleeve!" He touched the page then raised his fist, bringing the lightning spark from the book to the air. "Men! We're leaving! But before we go, I'll be taking someone with me! Shepherds, say goodbye to…"

Gangrel brought his hand back downwards, throwing it away from Chrom. "...Her!" A dense sphere of lightning shot forward, going in the other direction. Chrom's eyes went wide, first in confusion before shifting into horror as the sphere surged forwards, looking ahead to see that it was narrowing in on Reflet, who was on the ground and struggling to get on her feet.

"Reflet!" he shouted. "Watch out!" He took off after her, running with all his might in hopes of saving her.

Reflet raised her head before taking notice of the sphere before her. Her own eyes went wide as she began to shiver, watching the attack as it drew ever closer to her.

"...Aaaaah!"

* * *

The sound of the enemy's command to charge shot through Reflet's ears as she hurried over to Cordelia. In an instant the whole place turned into a battlefield. Now wyverns were all over them and more enemies were charging at them. How were they going to win this?

"This is bad!" Reflet said as she got down on her knees, looking at Cordelia in her critical state. "Can magic fix her?"

Liz shook her head as she put pressure on her wounds, trying to keep her from getting worse as Emmeryn tried to heal her. Cordelia's eyes were glazed over, and she barely responded to even a touch. Reflet wished she had a way to help her, but unfortunately she wasn't a healer.

"It can heal her a little, but our magic alone isn't stopping her from bleeding out!" Liz said with panic in her voice. "We need to get her stabilized!"

"Someone get her a vulnerary potion!" Emmeryn shouted. Reflet quickly looked around, looking for anything remotely resembling something with potions in it.

"Anna's shop bag!" she said as she noticed the bag beside the merchant firing at the wyverns above her. She held onto her head and covered her chest as she sprinted through the battlefield and over to the bag, quickly opening it as she scrambled to find a potion.

"Sorry, Anna! I need a vulnerary for Cordie!" she told her.

"Take it and we'll worry about it later!" Anna said, focusing solely on her targets. She had so much stuff in there, it probably had what she needed. She rummaged through her things, picking up a wind tome and her dagger.

"No-no-no!" Reflet shook her head as she threw those things behind her, digging her hand back inside when something made of glass touched her fingers. She pulled it out of the bag, finding that it was a vial with yellow liquid sloshing as she shook it.

"Yes! Here we go!" She kicked off the ground, sprinting back over to her friends. "Liz, take this!"

She handed it to Liz, letting her take it from her. "Thanks!" Liz said as she opened the vial, opening Cordelia's mouth as she forced her to drink it. "We'll take care of things from here, but keep us guarded!"

Reflet nodded in agreement as she scanned the battlefield. The wyverns swatted at their heavier teammates, swinging their tails and knocking them around. Everyone on their side was disorganized, still reeling from the sudden ambush.

"How do we take those wyverns out?" Reflet said. With the wyverns encircling them, they'll be trapped like turtles as the wyverns took them down one by one. They were losing this battle with every passing second.

"If we had the Queensfang, we could maybe fend them off," Emmeryn said, lifting her head and looking ahead. "But Chrom went to face Gangrel head on. I can't heal Cordie and fight at the same time, either."

Reflet winced as she watched her friends take numerous wounds and beatings, clenching her fist. "There has to be a way to get through this, there has to!"

"I wish there was a way as well, Reflet," Emmeryn said. "Incoming!"

Reflet looked ahead to see a man charging at her in the distance, one of the last who dropped down. She readied her arm, channeling energy through it and into her hand. Only this time the moment she laid eyes on the magic in her hands, her eyes went wide in terror. She let out a shriek, shivering at the sight of the yellow thunder surging in her palm.

"Gyahh!" Reflet said as she pulled her hand to her chest, fanning the thunder magic away as she shook her head frantically. She refused to want to fight with—no, to even see that spell, as her memory flashed in her head. She searched for another way to fight, looking down and picking up the book and dagger from earlier. She opened the book and drew energy from it, quickly forming a whirl of wind in her palm.

"Wind!" She threw the wind forward as it expanded, blasting her opponent with it. The man braced himself, sliding backwards as he received cuts to his arms. Running towards him to protect her friends, an idea came to her that made her head to the edge of the ravine. Attacking the man again to force his attention to stick, the man came her way, swinging his lance at her. A wide swing, one she was able to roll under.

"Now!" she said as she got on her feet, pointing her hand downwards. A much stronger windblast formed and fired off, forcefully knocking her backwards and pushing the man off the cliff. A pain went through both her body and her heart as she hit the ground, listening to the man scream to his death. And in another moment, there was nothing. She clenched her fist as she closed her eyes, her body shaking once again.

_No, I can't close them! These people will kill Cordie and my friends if I don't fight back, so I'm going to fight as long as I need to!_

She opened her eyes up, struggling to get back on her feet as she resolved to keep going.

Yet when she got up, what she saw in front of her made her body tremble with despair. She froze, watching as the sphere of blue travelled towards her. Strands of lightning coiled and weaved together, forming densely-packed rings to create a sphere slightly larger than a cannonball. Several strands escaped the sphere, zapping the air surrounding it continuously as it fried it.

A pain grasped and clutched her heart as the lightning drew closer. She found herself screaming, paralyzed with dread as she found herself unable to do anything once again.

"Bathe in the light!"

Emmeryn rushed into the way, bringing her hand forward as a wave of white light formed in front of her. Three rainbow dragons sprung to life from out of the book in her other hand, rushing forward and destroying the sphere. The two spells exploded, disintegrating into dozens of iridescent sparkles of rainbow and blue. As Reflet stared in awe and surprise at the sight, she took note of the blue book Emmeryn carried with her. In the middle of it was that symbol of her family, the one she's seen numerous times now.

"The Book of Naga…" she said, her mouth wide open as she watched the lights fade away. Emmeryn had it with her all along.

"Keheheh! Just as planned!" said the voice of Gangrel as a wyvern shot by them. The wyvern blasted wind and dust into their face, blinding Reflet and Emmeryn's eyes with dirt as Gangrel and his ally reached down and snatched Emmeryn into the air, quickly pinning her down and restraining her as they passed by.

"Emmeryn!" Chrom shouted as he reached Reflet. He looked on in horror as he watched his sister get taken away from them.

"I can't believe this worked!" said the rider. He hastily snatched the Book of Naga from a struggling Emmeryn, giving it to Gangrel.

"I don't know how Aversa called it, but this was the best gamble we could've ever made!" Gangrel said. He smirked at Chrom, waving him bye with two of his fingers. "Soldiers, follow after us! We're making our way back to the capital!"

The rest of the Wyvern Riders quickly took off, taking the soldiers that lived with them. They hastily made their way out of the mountain pass, kidnapping Emmeryn in a single swoop.

* * *

The battle was over. Gangrel and the Plegians had left, taking Emmeryn with them. The ringing of metal stopped, leaving nothing but the near silence of the wind in the mountains. Chrom looked on as he saw the Wyvern Riders fly off into the distance, heading back the way they had originally come from.

Chrom's heart sank as he clenched his fist. It trembled with fury as it shook his blade before he threw his sword into the ground, planting it in the dirt.

"Damn them all!" he shouted. "Damn you, Gangrel! You've wounded my best friend, and now you've taken my sister!? I'll make sure to send you to hell personally!" He lifted his sword back up, pointing it at the wyverns ahead of him. "Everyone, after them!"

"Unacceptable," a voice refused. Their words were calm, controlled. Chrom turned around to see Phila, her cold, red eyes staring squarely at him. She held her lance upright, still and with minimal movement.

"What?" he said, scowling upon hearing her remark. "Emmeryn got kidnapped, Phila! And you're saying not to go out there and save her before they get away?"

"As the prince, you lead the Shepherds, and they will follow you. But you do not lead the Pegasus Knights. I am the Commander of the Pegasus Knights, and I order my fliers to stand down, even if we're to be given an order from the prince himself."

Chrom couldn't believe what he was hearing. He clenched his teeth, snapping at her, "How the hell could you, my sister's personal retainer, her bodyguard, the one who's supposed to protect her, refuse to do so the moment she's in danger!"

"Take a look at our men and our women, our people," she said sternly. She waved a hand to the people behind her, motioning for him to see. Everyone was covered in serious wounds, some graver than others. Liz and whoever could assist tended to those who were in the worst conditions, trying to keep them slipping into a worse state. Their horses and pegasi were injured as well, with some dead on the field. Amongst the bodies laid there in death lied the man who had guided Emmeryn throughout her life, the Hierarch.

"There is not a single flier who can still continue. You would be sending us on a suicide mission. You would be down one more ally and there'd be an even lesser chance to save her. If we are to win this war and rescue her, we need to retreat to safety first."

Vaike straightened up as he sat on the ground, resting his arm on his knee as Reflet did her best to treat what she could with advice from Liz. There was a wide slash across his left arm with blood dripping from it, and another cut was given to him on his chest of similar graveness. His arms and chest were darkened in several spots, due to the many bruises he took from the wyverns.

"I hate to admit it, but she's right," Vaike said, looking up at Chrom. He started chuckling weakly, before straightening his face. "Even if the Vaike can pull through, doesn't mean the rest of us can if we keep going. A break's good for us every once in a while."

"I agree with everything Commander Phila and Vaike just said," Frederick said, his armor exposed as he let Anna treat his arm. "We need to make way for Ferox immediately. Over there we can hopefully come up with a plan before Gangrel can make another strike, but we need to leave, now."

Chrom looked onward as he heard the whispers of his allies, each one left defeated and unsure what to do. His lips tightened themselves, slowly loosening up as he stared longer at them. He took a deep breath, lifting his head up but lowering his eyes as he turned back around.

"Fine. Let's go," he said. The Shepherds and the Pegasus Knights began to head down the mountain, towards Felia where they'd be able to regroup.

Sully and Sol made their way to his side, looking at him remorsefully as they carried Cordelia between themselves as Liz continued to watch over her. Her wounds were all bandaged up, but now she was unconscious, her eyes closed shut. Chrom's eyes softened as he stared at her, clenching his fist tightly as he held on to her with the other. He didn't want to lose his best friend. Not now. Not like this.

"Please, please, tell me she'll be okay," he begged his sister.

"She's alive, I can confirm that," Liz said. "But I don't know when she'll wake up. Come on, let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! It's the author here! I hope you all have been enjoying A Pale-Blue Awakening! I sure had fun writing it. I actually spent the last 3 months rewriting the whole story and posting it on FFnet. This chapter is actually the first since the rewriting finished.
> 
> Now we've introduced a few new characters: Skye, and the Book Ghost. I'm sure by now you've noticed that things in Pale are somewhat different than how they are in canon. And this extends beyond the premise of Lucina joining the Shepherds early. I hope you take well to those changes, and enjoy reading them.
> 
> My goal with Pale now is to finish the Plegia arc and enter the Timeskip. If I can do that, maybe I'll take a bit of a break while I focus on some other stories. Or maybe I'll keep going into Valm and beyond, who knows. Enjoy!


	14. Preparing to Advance

_March 18._

Days passed since they turned away from Breakneck Pass. Without their carriages, the Shepherds had to march as often as they could to make their way back to Ferox. They once again travelled on the stone road that led to the Longfort, and would reach it in roughly two hours at the rate they were going.

"Torches, up ahead," Frederick said. Several torches shined ahead of them, revealing the outlines of wagons heading towards them.

"Please be a good sign," Liz whined. She had grown weary from the constant marching that followed the ambush, and she wasn't the only one like that, either. It was clear that the morale of the Shepherds and Pegasus Knights were at a low point, though there was nothing they could do.

"Soldiers, halt," Chrom said, raising a hand. The two parties stopped and made their way to the side of the road as the wagons stopped in front of them. A woman stepped out of the first wagon, calmly walking towards Chrom.

"So, my champion returns." Flavia gave a half-smile, looking at the rest of his companions. "You all look weary. Come, my soldiers can take over from here. We should have enough space for all of you." She gestured for them to enter her wagons, and they did so accordingly. Chrom got inside the first wagon as the others helped each other on board, with Chrom taking a seat right behind Flavia.

"Turn around," Flavia ordered her soldiers as she reined her horse, turning her own wagon around. Chrom stayed silent as he looked out the wagon, watching the trees go by as snow fell down.

"The snow isn't as harsh today as it normally is in March. It does make driving easier to deal with." Flavia took her eyes off the road, tilting them towards him. "One of your scouts relayed to me the events that occurred a few days ago. I know what went down between you and the king himself." She shrugged her shoulder, grabbing onto the red pauldron on her arm "I'm sorry that your sister was taken by him."

"Thank you, Flavia." Chrom slowly breathed in through his nose, still looking out in the distance.

"So, the redhead." Flavia looked behind her to see the unconscious woman who was being helped into a blanket by Frederick and Liz. "She's your friend, correct? Her name was Cordie as I remember?"

"Cordelia, but I normally call her Cordie," he said. "And my best friend, actually. Though, we haven't really hung out in..." Chrom trailed off as he shook his head. Now was not the time for that. "She was the first to notice the ambush happening, but I wasn't quick enough to dodge the arrows sent my way." He tightly gripped on his sleeved elbow, wincing as he balled his other fist. "...It's my fault she's in the state she's in. I should've taken the hit, not her."

"...Well, there's little that line of thinking can do now. What's done is done." Flavia shook her head. "If we were to think about the what-ifs, then what-if she didn't save you? You could've died. Take a look at it from her perspective. The moment she found out you all were in danger, what was the first thing she did?"

Chrom lifted his head up, turning to her. "...She protected me."

"Exactly. She likely sees you as someone she needs to protect. You're her commander, it is your job to guide her and your allies to victory. You're also her prince, it is up to you to lead Ylisse down the right path. You lead them, and without you they all will fall. And you're also her friend. I'm sure she would've risked her life solely for that reason."

He closed his eyes as he clenched his teeth, letting out a breath. "But she shouldn't have to be the one risking her life and getting injured because of my mistakes. I should have seen the ambush coming and I should have protected her, just like how I should've protected Emmeryn when she got kidnapped."

"Look after her then," Flavia said, closing her eyes. "Protect her like she protected you. Protect each other so that neither of you will get hurt from now on. It's too late to prevent the mistakes that have been made, but you still have time to prevent the mistakes of the future. So keep going, keep looking after her."

Chrom lowered his eyes back down as he gazed into the road ahead. "...Thank you."

Flavia opened her eyes, focusing back on the road. "I do, however, understand how you're feeling. Take a break, kid. We'll reach the capital soon."

* * *

"Thank Naga, we're finally here," Liz said as they made their way inside the Gray Palace. "I'm tired of all this walking and wagon riding."

"Yeah, me too," Reflet said. "We've been at it for a while. Right, Chrom?"

Chrom didn't answer, making her turn her head to him. "Chrom?" she said, peeking forward to meet his eyes. They were sad and distant. He wasn't even paying attention to where he was walking anymore.

"Hey Chrom? Reflet's talking to you," Liz said, leaning forward alongside her.

"...Huh?" Chrom finally reacted, turning his head to them. "I'm sorry, what are you guys talking about?"

"We were just saying that all this travelling is making us tired," Liz said.

"Oh… Yeah it has." He lowered his head back down, staying quiet once again.

"He really isn't doing so good, isn't he?" Sumia said, catching up with them.

"Yeah, he isn't," Reflet said, frowning as she looked at Chrom.

"I don't like seeing him this way. I hope he snaps out of it soon," Sumia said.

"Me too, Sumia." Liz shook her head left and right, pursing her lips and lowering her eyes like her brother. No one was happy that Emmeryn was taken, and clearly the siblings were taking it the worst. Reflet looked on ahead as they walked, finding Basilio waiting for them while he stood at the staircase leading to the throne room.

"Welcome back, you lot," Basilio said, giving a smirk to Reflet. "Lass! Where have you been, gal?"

"Hi Basilio," she said, giving him a shy smile. At least he seemed to be in good spirits.

"Hello there, you oafish fart," Flavia said, giving him a tilt of her head towards the throne room. "Get yourself ready, we're about to start a meeting."

"Alright then, you bag of shit. We'll save the fun for later." Basilio crossed his arms and nodded, heading with them as they entered the large set of doors. Flavia took a seat at her throne, leaning forward and bringing her hands together as she looked at the Shepherds standing by. Basilio stood next to her, watching them as well.

"We're going to give it to you straight, Chrom," Flavia said as she brought the back of her hand to her chin. "It's going to take us a while before the Feroxi army can fully mobilize."

Basilio nodded. "I've told my generals to mobilize the troops in West Ferox," he said with a straight face. "They're readying themselves as we speak." When she was talking with him when they had dinner and when she first saw him, he seemed more rowdy and somewhat goofy. Now he looked almost as serious as Frederick and Phila.

"How long will that take?" Frederick asked, speaking for Chrom who still held his head in a distant manner.

"Two and a half weeks should be enough for us both to get ready," Flavia said. "Until then, I suggest you all stay here in the palace. How many soldiers can your country provide?"

"We can provide about three hundred fighters split between guards and knights under the service of local lords, though not much else," Frederick said.

"Then it seems we'll be doing the heavy lifting in the numbers department, but I don't think that'll be an issue for us," Flavia said. "Isn't that right, oaf?"

"If there's something the Feroxi love more than anything else in the world, it's a good all-out brawl." Basilio smirked for a moment before returning to his collected persona. "Our troops will be more than happy to handle this, especially after seeing the way you all fought in the tournament."

Flavia nodded, getting out of her seat. "We're in this war together. You had my back in the past, now it's my turn to return the favor."

"Aye, and I'm not a man who'd let his allies fight on their own," Basilio said. "Ferox will give you our full support. Does that sound good to you, boy?"

Even though they were speaking directly to him, Chrom still said nothing as he stared past the Khans, looking at the wall past them.

"Chrom, you're in your head again," Liz said, frowning at him. "Say something to the khans! Say something like 'Yeah, let's kick Gangrel's ass together!' like you'd usually say!"

"Guys… I'm…" Chrom trailed off, letting out a sigh as he returned to silence. Sumia went to his side, looking at him with worry and frustration.

"Come on, Captain!" Sumia shook her gauntlets, trying to get his attention. "You need to snap out of this!" She clenched one of them and raised it up, quickly throwing a punch across his cheek.

"Woah!" Reflet said in shock.

"Dear Naga, fuck!" Chrom screamed in agony as he shot to the floor. "What the hell was that for, Sumia?"

"Oh dear, did I do that wrong?" Sumia said. "Phila told me that sometimes a good slap will break a person out of their pits."

Liz put a hand on her head, shaking it left and right. "Sumia, when you slap someone you do it like this." She went up to Sumia, slapping her hand with the other to demonstrate.

"Oh gods I messed that up," Sumia whispered as she looked down at Chrom. "Umm, at least you're feeling?"

"I feel nothing but pain!" he shouted, rolling to the side as he held his cheek as he cursed out a string of expletives.

Sumia put her hands over her mouth, slowly letting out a breath as she got down on her knees to try to help him. "I'm so sorry, Chrom."

Chrom continued to scream as Liz healed his cheek, pulling him back up with Sumia.

"Are you going to be okay?" Liz asked.

"Yes, but, gahh!" Chrom screamed again, still holding his cheek. "It hurts like hell!" He got on his feet, taking deep breaths as he began to calm down.

"Well then," Flavia said as she let out a chuckle. "That sure was fun to watch."

"You found that funny?" Chrom said, shifting his eyes to her.

"What?" Flavia closed her eyes as she chuckled louder. "Sometimes love hurts! You're lucky to have so many strong women around you."

Basilio's straight face cracked, breaking into a loud chuckle. "Laughing at other people's pain is the second thing Feroxi love more than anything else. You'll find that out quick enough, boy."

Chrom looked at the two of them angrily before he let out a snicker of his own. "Okay, it was a little funny." He snickered again, letting out a loud snort and laugh. "Ahhh, my face fucking hurts."

Liz and Sumia started to laugh alongside them, with Reflet cracking a tiny giggle near the end. She turned to Frederick, seeing that even he was holding back a laugh.

"Well, it's good to have a laugh during a time like this," Flavia said as they all calmed down. "Here's the plan. While we prepare ourselves, we will be holding war meetings to prepare ourselves for when the time comes. Between now and then, you all should use this time wisely. Because once we're ready to leave, we'll be going straight to war. Seems good?"

Chrom nodded, smirking at her. "Yeah. As Liz put it, let's kick Gangrel's ass." The Shepherds left the room as the meeting ended, dismissed for the day.

* * *

Leaving the meeting room, Chrom walked down the steps of the staircase, making his way towards the infirmary. He kept going until he reached a door which was half-open. Bringing his hand to the door knob, he pulled it away only to clench it, scratching his palm with his nails lightly. He took a breath inwards as he lightly shook his head, before opening the door completely, entering inside. It was a simple bedroom, one where his friend laid within a bed. She was still unconscious, making small breaths as her body moved lightly up and down. He walked up to her bedside, pulling up a seat for himself. He put a hand on his head, hanging it as he looked away from her. Gods, this was all his fault. All he wanted now was just to see her awake again. To do stupid things again, like playing Earth Amulet or sneaking off to the beach like they used to.

But he didn't know when she'd wake up again. Or even if she'd wake up at all. He winced as he held his head tighter, then slowly released the tension. Taking his hand off, he placed it softly on her shoulder, looking back at her face.

And then there was the fact that even when she wakes up, she'd still be mad at him once again. They hadn't talked since he upset her. He wasn't even sure whether he should go see her at that point or not.

But that hardly mattered to him at all. All he wanted was for her to wake up soon. He leaned over to her, wrapping his arms around her neck. Lifting her head up, he brought himself closer as he held her tightly between his arms.

"I'm sorry I got you hurt, Cordie."

He lingered for a moment, closing his eyes as he secured his arms together. After that, he let go of her, getting out of his chair as he left the room.

* * *

Leaving the infirmary, Chrom made his way back to the entrance to find Miriel approaching him.

"Good afternoon, Chrom. It's time to begin training again," she said. "Would you please come with me?"

"Training, huh?" Chrom took a deep breath to prepare himself, nodding. "Okay, let's do it." Perhaps a little bit of training would be good for his mind. The two of them made their way to the courtyard outside. Miriel walked to his side, adjusting her glasses as she studied him with her eyes.

"So, what are we going to do now?" he asked.

"Last time you inquired about the basics and were given an introductory lesson. Now we shall see whether or not you are actually able to perform a proper spell." Miriel opened her book, her eyes still on him. "Try to perform a fire spell right now. I will use this as an example to study from to figure out what aspects of magic you struggle with."

"So it's finally time to do magic? Alright, here goes." Chrom gave her a nod, stretching his hand out as he tried to channel some energy. After only a moment, a tiny spark of flame appeared in his hand, shimmering brightly.

* * *

Reflet sat in her chair, flicking a finger across a page of her dictionary when suddenly she heard a loud explosion from outside. She squeaked, widening her eyes as she got on her knees to peek out the window.

"What was that?"

She got off her chair, making her way outside to the training yard to see Chrom and Miriel completely covered in dust. Chrom coughed loudly as he shook the dust out of his hair.

"What the hell happened?" he said.

"I've never seen this before from a student's very first try." Miriel wiped the dust off her glasses, looking at Chrom with her mouth agape.

"What happened, you two?" Reflet said.

"I tried to cast magic and just exploded on me." Coughing several times, Chrom dusted the rest of himself off. "What exactly just happened, Miriel?"

"This will make things rather difficult." Miriel took off her hat and fanned the dust off before she began cleaning it thoroughly. "It seems your magic backfired on you. This is a somewhat uncommon occurrence for most spellcasters, but it can still happen. It is typically seen most often when wielding powerful fire and lightning elemental spells. But if so much as a basic fire causes this type of explosion, I'm worried of what will occur should we try anything more advanced."

"Maybe I should try it again?" Chrom stretched his hand out again, getting ready to cast another spell.

"Wait!" Miriel said. "Let's not be creating anymore explosions." She took his hand and pushed it back to him, cringing her teeth. "We can study from your personal experience instead. Do you know any instances of you using magic in some form or capacity?"

"Umm, I don't think I have," Chrom said, scratching his head.

"What about those jumps you've made in the past?" Miriel said.

"My jumping? What do you mean?" Chrom stared at her in confusion as Miriel turned away from him. She started muttering to herself, ignoring the both of them as she opened her book.

"Yes, of course, this is simply fascinating…" Miriel said as she paced in circles while scanning her book. "Ruminating upon it, I believe it makes perfect sense. Such jumping ability is improbable to attain without being assisted by magic of some type. The level of skill displayed when performing those feats during the fight with Lon'qu and Gangrel must mean… What type of magic does he use?…" Miriel said as she shook her head. "That's another question for later."

"Hang on, I think she's saying that you've already been using magic," Reflet said.

"I have?" Chrom said. "When exactly? I don't remember any of it."

"You know how you did those super jumps? And when you got your sword from Emmeryn. You started spinning it around and then you lifted it into the air on accident. And you were doing a jingle that went like, 'da-da-da-da!" She spun around, bringing her hand in the air like he did back then. "Remember?"

"Oh yeah," he said. "Wait, so those jumps were me using magic?"

Miriel quickly snapped backwards as she threw her arm at him, pointing a black pen at his face.

"Woah!" Chrom's eyes widened as he leaned backwards, looking at the pen.

"You are unable to control your magical powers. That is my hypothesis," Miriel said. She continued to point at him even after she was speaking, staying still as she looked at him with a serious expression.

"Miriel, is everything alright?" he asked.

"Err, sorry," Miriel said as she blinked repeatedly. "I got lost in my own head for a moment." She straightened herself up, bringing her pen to her chin.

"Where'd you get that pen?" Reflet asked.

"I keep one on me at all times. It's my own work." She adjusted her glasses, clearing out her throat. "Now as I was saying, you have shown the ability to use magic to an impressive degree, however, you have also shown that you have difficulty controlling your powers. I suspect that you've been using magic subconsciously, without thinking about it." She played with her pen, tapping her chin with it. "Knowing all this, I will need to look into this to find a solution to prevent you from creating anymore explosions. Until then, I suggest you avoid using fire magic until I return."

"Aww, I can't use fire magic?" Chrom furled his eyebrows, grumbling to himself.

"It'll just be until we have a way for you to be able to wield it without exploding things. We'll have to end our training session early as a result, however. Thank you for your time, you two, but I must be off." Miriel took off, leaving the two of them to themselves.

Chrom groaned, turning to Reflet. "This isn't fair, Reflet. How come everyone else can use magic without it exploding in their faces?" Chrom put his hands over his head, letting out a disappointed sigh. He was actually looking forward to being able to cast magic. Sure, the Queensfang could turn on fire, but what about punching with fire? That was something cool and he wanted to do it, too.

Reflet put a hand over her lips as she let out a cheeky giggle. "We'll find a way, Chrom."

* * *

"Is this her room?" Reflet muttered to herself as she opened the door. She checked inside to see Cordelia was indeed there, and still unconscious unfortunately. It had been five days now, and Reflet was getting more worried as the days passed. Chrom had been checking on her constantly, even before they arrived. Reflet twisted a strand of hair as she entered the room, finding that another girl was kneeling beside her. She was a pegasus knight, judging from her armor.

The girl took notice of her, quickly getting up on her feet. "Oh, you must be one of her friends. I was just getting ready to leave."

"It's fine," she said. "You were checking up on Cordie, right? So was I."

"Of course I am. What, do you think I'm heartless?" The girl put a hand on her hip, looking at her defensively. "The genius got hurt, so I just came to…" She trailed off as she looked back at Cordelia, grabbing her bedside. "...Make sure she was okay."

Reflet stiffened a cheek the instant she heard the word genius. "Why do you call her that?" She tilted her head, tapping a finger on the side of her waist.

"What, a genius?" She folded one arm over the other as she raised her palm. "Because she is one, obviously. Look at the way she fights for even a second and you'll see it. If she stayed with the Pegasus Knights, she should've been our ace flier by now. And if it weren't for her, then the prince himself would've been injured in the fight, maybe even killed."

Reflet quickly shook her head. "I know Cordie's a great fighter, she beat me five times in a row. But even if she's good, you shouldn't be calling her that."

"Oh yeah? Why not?" She scoffed. "Have you come to tell me what to and not to do with Cordie like that other flier girl, you little runt?"

Reflet winced, shaking her head again. "She doesn't like being called that at all. It really hurts her, and you're just being a meanie if you keep doing it."

The girl gave Reflet a raspy breath, turning her eyes away quickly. "Well it's not like she told me anything about that! I could've stopped if she told me, it's just…"

"It's just what?" Reflet said.

The girl turned her head further away from her, staying silent. Her cheeks reddened as she held her lips shut tight, looking to the ground. "It was something I and the other knights always called her…" She began to frown as she seemingly thought hard on something. Watching her expression change, Reflet's own began to soften in kind.

"Well she told me that you used to bully her, and you called her that all the time when you did it," Reflet said, putting a hand on her hip. "So could you please stop calling her that?"

The girl's jaw dropped as she looked back at Reflet. "I wasn't trying to bully her! It was hazing! Every Pegasus Knight goes through it, even I did!"

"Wait, you were hurt the same way Cordie was?" Raising her eyebrows, Reflet then lowered them right back down. What she just said made Reflet even more confused.

"The knights before me did it to me when I joined them. And I was told that when it was my turn and a new recruit came in, it was my job to do it to them." The girl lowered her head back down, looking away from Reflet once again.

"...Well, I don't think that's right at all. We don't do that in the Shepherds." Reflet let out a quiet breath, closing her eyes as she put her hands on her head. "I don't get it. Did you even like when they bullied you?"

"Well, no, but…" The girl stopped speaking as she closed her fist. It tightened and shook as the girl bit down hard on her lip. "Look, let me just leave, please," she finally said. She quickly took off and left the room, not even glancing at Reflet on the way out.

Watching her leave, Reflet tapped on her forehead as she shook her head. She let out a sigh, moving over to Cordelia to check on her.

* * *

_March 24,_

"You called me?" Chrom said as he and the other Shepherds entered the throne room. It had been a week since they were last called in for something important.

"Good, you're all here," Flavia sat on the throne with a hand on her head. Basilio took a slow breath, tapping an arm as he held one over the other.

"So, what's the news?" Chrom said. "Did something happen to slow us down from mobilizing?"

"I'm afraid it's worse than that. I'll be frank with you kid, I don't like what I'm about to tell you." Flavia straightened herself in her chair, looking at Chrom as she crossed her own arms. "This morning our scouts delivered to us a letter from Gangrel. In short, Emmeryn's set to be publicly executed within four weeks."

"What?" Chrom said. "Gods, damn him!" The Shepherds entered an uproar, each one voicing their distress.

"She's going to be executed?" Reflet said, letting out a gasp. "Oh, oh dear…" Looking to her right, she found Liz already weak in the knees, holding on to her.

"Please, tell me it's not true!" Liz said, choking out a sob. Frederick moved to her, holding her up with both hands as he looked sternly at Flavia.

"Surely there is something he is demanding that we give to him?" Frederick said.

"Right you are, Frederick the Wary," Flavia said. "What he wants is for our countries to surrender and for Chrom to relinquish the Queensfang. It's quite a tall ransom."

"A mad ransom for a mad king if you ask me," Basilio said. "I've met the guy before and I've never trusted him once. And what I've heard of his actions so far hasn't done him any favors."

"What are we going to do?" Reflet asked.

"Sending this letter to us was clearly meant to be a provocation," Basilio said as he showed the letter to Reflet. "That bastard's plotting something. I don't think we should go out there without some kind of—"

"Like hell we're not going out there!" Chrom exclaimed. "I'm not going to just sit down and do nothing while my sister's life is at stake! We need to march to Plegia immediately!"

"Hang on, now, Chrom." Flavia shook her head. "Take a deep breath and stay calm. No one's saying not to act. We're just saying we should act wisely. We'll need guts and wits in equal measure if we're to save your sister. But most importantly, we need some kind of plan. If we go out there and Gangrel's set a trap for us, we'll be like sitting ducks against a rain of arrows."

"...Alright." Chrom took a breath like she said to, calming himself down.

"Good," Flavia said. "It's time for a war council, we'll begin immediately."

* * *

This would be the first war meeting Reflet would partake in. She sat between Chrom and Liz, looking at the war table with the map of the continent on it. Lines were drawn representing territory borders, with figurines representing the forces of Ferox and Ylisse against Plegia's. The room was much noisier than she'd like, and crowded, but she could follow along enough.

"Let's establish our goals. Emmeryn is held up within the capital of Plegia." Flavia pointed to the center of the landmass in the south west part of Archanea, where Plegia was located. "We only have four weeks from today until she is executed. Surrendering is not an option if we are to win this war against the king. We need not only a plan to fight against Gangrel, but also one to break into his palace and rescue the queen immediately."

"If we attack from the border pass between Ylisse and Plegia, we'll be knocking on Gangrel's doors," Basilio said. "We'd strike hard and fast, giving Gangrel no time to react if we take that point."

"But Plegia's wyverns could catch us easily there," Wayne argued from his seat at the table. "Not only do they have the benefit of being flight units in a mountain range, but their skin is tough and leathery enough to be comparable to light armor, making it difficult to take them down." He shook his head as he brought his finger to the places they fought. "We've been at a disadvantage dealing with them in each skirmish we've entered. I suggest we attack from another angle."

"Then what about attacking from the west side of the Longfort?" Frederick offered. "They should have a harder time fighting against us, especially since we'd have control of the battlefield if they were to attack us near the fort. We could keep them at bay with our archers as we push forward to the capital."

"But the longer distance means it'll take longer to get to the capital," Flavia said. "If the battles go south we might not be able to reach the palace in time."

As she listened to what they were saying, Reflet mumbled to herself, putting a finger between her lips as she ran an idea through her head. "What if we…" She shook her head left and right, tilting it to the side to look from another angle.

"You were going to say something, Reflet?" someone suddenly said.

"Huh?" Reflet brought her head up to see Basilio looking at her, alongside the other members of the war table. With so many stares, Reflet found herself tensing up. She stiffened her lip, tilting her head away from Basilio.

"Sorry, I was just thinking of something to myself..." She trailed off as she reached behind her neck and grabbed the air out of habit, a reminder that her cloak was gone. Her shoulders tensed upwards, with her burying a cheek in one of them.

"Don't be so shy, lass," Basilio said, crossing his arms. "It's important to speak your mind when you have something to say, especially for a meeting like this. We need to consider our options so that we know which don't work, which do, and which will work better. You have the floor."

"Umm... okay." Reflet lifted her head back up. "Then that lake or sea right here, just south of the Longfort." She pointed her finger to the big water mass between Ylisse, Ferox and Plegia. "What about that point? What could we do with it?"

"An attack from the lake?" Basilio put a hand on his chin as he leaned closer to the spot she pointed at. "Hmm."

"Yeah, there aren't too many soldiers here," she said. "We could sneak past them and go straight into the capital."

Flavia raised her hand. "Problem is, we don't have big enough ships near that lake to carry out an all out attack from that position."

"Do we need big enough ships?" Reflet tapped her cheek as she thought further on the idea. "What if we sent in a smaller force to rescue Emmeryn first, and then we use Frederick's idea and attack from the left at the same time? That way, we'd be able to rescue Emmeryn even as that side takes on Plegia's army."

Basilio widened his eyes, nodding his head up and down. "I see what she's saying. She just proposed we ambush that mad king."

"And your thoughts on it?" Flavia asked him.

"It's a good idea, but it needs refinement." Basilio shook his head. "We can't go in with a plan like that unless we want axes through our chests."

"Oh, sorry then…" Lowering her eyes, Reflet frowned to herself. Maybe her plan wasn't as good as she thought it could be.

"But that's why we have four weeks to refine it," Basilio pointed out. "I think we should go with the little lady's plan. If we play our cards right, then Gangrel will have no way to see us coming."

"I had the exact same thought as you, oaf," Flavia said. "And you, Chrom?"

"It's a good plan," he said.

"Oh!" Reflet squeaked, a smile cracking through her lips. "So it is good?"

Basilio turned back to her with a smirk. "Don't sell yourself short, kid. The plan is fine as it is right now. It's time for a recess." Basilio raised his hand, dismissing the group. Everyone got out of their seats as they began to disperse out of the war room.

"Gah! That tired the hell out of me!" Basilio stretched his arms as he cracked his back. "I'm glad that's over with! How are you holding up, lass?"

"Me?" Reflet turned to him as they left the room together. "I guess I'm doing okay. I just hope the plan will work out."

"Ahh, we'll be fine, kid. I've seen the way you fight, you'll pull through." Basilio leaned himself on the wall, smiling at her.

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course. Don't think I didn't see that you were the one who secured the win during the tournament, even if you weren't the one to finish the job. For someone so tiny and shy, you sure have guts." Basilio let out a quick chuckle. "Kind of like my right hand, Olivia. I should check on her and Lon'qu soon."

"Guts, huh…?" Reflet lowered her eyes as she raised her palm, then closed it, bringing it to her chest. She nodded to herself when she saw Chrom leaving past her. He quickly headed out of the hall, heading off to the main entrance without noticing them.

"Woah, he left pretty fast," Basilio said. "Where's he going?"

"He's probably going to see his friend," Flavia said, stepping out of the room. "You know, the redhead."

"Is that so?" Basilio said. "How have those two been doing lately, lass?"

"Not good," Reflet answered, turning to Basilio. "They haven't really done well since we talked about it last time. Cordelia wanted to talk to him earlier, but thanks to her injuries, she never got the chance. And Chrom's been worried for her ever since that day."

"Is that what you were teaching her after the tournament? Their love life?" Flavia said, huffing through her nose. "Ugh, you're such a gossip, I swear."

"Hey! If she wanted to know, she wanted to know! Who am I to object?" Basilio threw his hands up as he rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that, lass. Let's hope that the two of them get patched right up as soon as they can."

Reflet nodded at him. "Right." She hoped so too, knowing Cordelia's feelings for him and how worried he's been for her. Having learned about what was going on with them, Reflet wanted only good things for them.

"Can I ask you something, Reflet?" Flavia said. "I need you to keep an eye on Chrom."

"Huh?" Reflet said, turning around to face her.

"He's going through a lot as of late, and though I'd like to help him where I can, I can't be there for him all the time. You, on the other hand, will be able to stick close by him. So make sure he doesn't do something he'd regret."

"You want me to stop him from making a mistake?" Reflet knitted her eyebrows, twirling her fingers around each other. "Are you sure I can do it?"

Flavia nodded. "You've seen his anger firsthand. Even an anger born from the right reasons can lead one to do things they're not proud of. I'm worried he'll let his anger get the best of him."

Lowering her eyes, Reflet nodded her head softly. "Yeah, I've seen him get angry before." There was that time when the first battle occurred, for example. It was Gangrel pushing him too far that made him throw the punch which started the fight that began the war. And then just the sight of him was enough to get Chrom to charge straight at him in the ambush. Come to think of it, Gangrel seems to be really good at pressing Chrom into becoming angry.

Which made her wonder, did Chrom's death in the future happen because—

Reflet stopped that train of thought as her eyes widened. She didn't want to relive that memory. It was just a dream, Chrom even said so. Still, that dream felt so… real.

"I know you can do it," Flavia said, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"She's right, kid," Basilio said.

Reflet lowered her eyes back down as she took a slow breath. Breathing out, she picked her head back up, looking at her friends. "Thank you, Flavia and Basilio. Okay, I'll do my best to watch after him." She gave them a small smile, then headed off on her own.

* * *

_...Ple…ase…_

The world was dark. Where was she? Was she still alive?

_...Just let her... wake… please._

There was a warmth surrounding where her hand should've been. It soothed her, made her feel safe. Slowly, Cordelia felt her eyes start to shift. She clutched the warmth around her hand, which grew warmer as it wrapped itself around her hand once again, pulling her hand closer to itself.

_Please…_

Her eyelids parted from each other, giving way to a mix of white and yellow colors. It took a moment before she noticed the sight, and even then she didn't realize what she was looking at even after she opened her eyelids halfway. Her mind was foggy, like she was still asleep. She opened her eyes almost all the way, registering the white and yellow colors as the blanket she slept in.

She was awake now, after what seemed like so long in that darkness. That warmth was still present around her hand, now tighter, much tighter. Oww! Cordelia blinked as she looked down to see two hands wrapped around hers, snapping her awake. They didn't hurt too much, but who was holding her? Cordelia tilted her head to her left, blinking once again as she saw him staring at her with wide eyes.

"Cordie! Oh thank Naga!" Chrom moved forward so fast it was almost a tackle. He wrapped himself around her, tightly clutching her within his arms.

"Woah!" Cordelia said, finding herself quickly and suddenly overwhelmed. Her cheeks immediately flushed as she found herself resting her chin on his shoulder, her arms lying on the bed next to his waist.

"Thank gods, you're awake!" Chrom said. There was relief in his voice as he shook his head, grabbing her by the back and bringing her even closer to him.

"Ghh… Breathing!" she said, putting her hands on his shoulders as she tried to pull herself away.

"Oops, sorry!" Chrom winced as he pulled himself away from her. Cordelia took a deep breath, feeling much better.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking around the room. "Whose bed is this?"

"You're in Felia, Cordie," he said. "You've been asleep for eleven days."

"Eleven days?" Cordelia raised her eyebrows. "That long?"

"Yeah, we were all worried you weren't going to wake up." Chrom lowered his head, smiling warmly at her. "I'm so happy you did." He brought both his hands back to hers, grasping it once again with such intensity. Cordelia blushed again as she smiled at the sight. It did feel nice to have him do this.

"What's happened since I was gone?" she asked.

Chrom began to frown, letting out a sigh. "Emmeryn got kidnapped by Gangrel after the battle ended. Now Gangrel's going to execute her if we don't do anything to stop him.

"Woah," Cordelia said, her eyes going wide. "I'm sorry, Chrom."

"Thanks," Chrom said quietly. He slowly picked up his head, looking her in the eyes. "And, I'm sorry, Cordie."

"You're sorry?" she said. "For what?"

"Don't you remember? Just after the tournament, I upset you and you ran off because of it. I'm so sorry for hurting you."

"Oh, right." To be honest, having just woken up she completely forgot about it. Especially seeing how worried he was for her.

"It's okay Chrom," she said. "I forgive you. And besides, there's no way you could have known what went wrong."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You see, when you called me a genius, it reminded me of a harsh time in my life. Back then, I used to be bullied by a girl who called me that all the time. And so when you did it, I guess I just thought you were doing it to mock me, too." She told him about the rest of what happened during the time she was a Pegasus Knight. Of all the hazing, all the bullying, and all the things she had to endure. Chrom listened to each and every word of hers, looking at her with pain in his eyes by the time she finished.

"I could never do that to you," he said, shaking his head again. "You're my friend. My best friend. I'd never want to hurt you."

A soft smile formed on her face. She pulled her hand back, bringing his hands closer to her. "I know you wouldn't."

He lowered his head once more, looking at the ground as he let out a quiet sob. "I wish I knew. I wish I was there, so I could've done something about it."

She shook her head. "It's okay Chrom. What happened is in the past."

"I just wish I was there for you. You mean to tell me that you went through all this stuff between those years that we never got the chance to talk?" Chrom held her hand the tightest he could without trying to hurt her. He sobbed again, raising his voice as he sobbed another time. "What kind of friend am I if I don't even notice what you're going through?!"

Chrom started to sob again and again as a small stream of tears flowed from his eyes. Closing them, he pulled her hand back to him, resting his forehead on it.

"Well, you're here now. That matters a lot to me, Chrom." Watching him cry, Cordelia felt a pit form in her heart. She didn't want to see him cry.

"And…"

Cordelia found herself quiet as she brought her hand to his eyes, wiping away his tears. "...And I'm here for you, too. We're going to bring Emmeryn back safe and sound. I promise you that. And when this is done, things will go back to the way they used to." She tried to pull him in for a hug. Her arms felt weak and sluggish, no doubt because of having just woken up after so long. But she was able to pull him in, letting his head rest on her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him and wiped his tears away.

_Do you really think you can make a promise like that? You'll just run away again. And even if things go back to normal, you'll still never be his knight. He'll find someone he likes soon enough. What will you do then? Are you just going to pine for him forever? He'll find someone else, get married, and spend the rest of his life with them, and you'll just be wasting your time alone and unloved forever._

She shook her head, knowing her mind was just trying to make her feel worse. Chrom did care for her a lot, and she cared for him just as much. And besides, seeing the way he was, Cordelia knew that right now, he didn't need her to be his knight.

He needed her to be his friend. Knowing that, there was no amount of time in the world that she could spend with him ever thinking her time would be wasted.

* * *

Reflet was in one of the living rooms of the Gray Palace, minding her own business and reading her books when a butler approached her.

"Miss Reflet?" the butler said.

Reflet giggled as she heard him call her 'Miss Reflet.' "Yes?" she said.

"There is someone in the foyer who called for you. They asked that you come see them."

"See me?" Reflet knitted her eyebrows. "Why me?"

"They hadn't mentioned the reason. All they said was that they were a friend of one of your allies."

The butler left the living room, leaving Reflet to herself. Reflet crossed her arms as she pouted. Who could be calling for her? She hopped off the couch, heading down the staircase to reach the entrance where a man stood in front of the tall set of granite doors.

"Umm, you called for me?" she said as she stopped, taking a proper look at the man. Standing up straight, Reflet could see he was tall, as tall as Chrom, really. His hair was neatly combed and parted to the side, reaching down to his ears. In his hand was a black wizard hat he held at his chest, the same style that Ricken and Miriel wore. It matched the black robes he wore, which had a slight blue tone to it and an elegant collar that flared outwards, revealing a bright red underside.

"Hello, you must be Reflet," the man said, pushing his glasses upwards using two of his fingers. "You really are as small as she said you were."


	15. Amidst the Sea of Stars

Reflet narrowed her eyes, closely watching the mage in front of her. "Who are you? And who told you about me?"

"Ah, I suppose I should start with an introduction." The mage put his hat back on his head, then gave her a bow. "You should refer to me as Canas. I am one of the mages belonging to the Ylissean Royal Court, specifically an assistant to the more prestiged spellcasters."

"Canas…" Reflet said, the name ringing a bell in her head. "Wait, that means you're my friend's friend!"

Canas gave her a small smile. "Indeed, I am the friend of her brother. Sol did tell me a lot about you."

"So what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I need to speak to Prince Lowell directly. However before that, I thought it'd be best to speak to you while we have time. Do you mind if we speak somewhere else?"

"Okay!" Reflet said happily. Together they went out of the hallway, entering a smaller, quieter room near the infirmary.

Canas took his bag and laid it on the table, searching for something inside it. "Forgive me for the change of scenery, I simply thought it'd be best to handle this matter in private. Now, Sol informed me that you expressed a desire in growing breasts. Is that correct?"

"Yep, I want the thingies!" Reflet said, making a quick gasp. "Are you talking about the medicine?"

"You are correct. I will need only a moment to create it." He pulled out a set of vials and a spellbook, preparing them on the table.

Reflet bounced up and down, excited that it was finally time for her to get breasts. "So how does it work?"

"This medicine is intended to induce a pubertal cycle within the human body," Canas said. "It will cause your body to grow in many different ways, one of which is the development of breast tissue which you seek." He turned around, handing her a sheet of paper. "Though I must ask you to read this before we can begin administering this medicine."

"What's this?" Reflet skimmed through the list, grinning as she read each bullet off.

"This list details every potential effect that may occur. For example, you may find that your skin will soften, and the fat in your body will redistribute into other areas."

"All this sounds wonderful!" she said. "I'll have it now, please!"

"Excellent! We'll have to just run some quick tests and measurements. Surely I can find one of the female Shepherds or perhaps a nurse to assist me." Canas left the room and returned with a nurse, who took Reflet into another room. By the time Reflet returned, he was just about finished making the potion.

"It is finished." Canas turned around with a flask in his hands, giving it to Reflet. "You'll want to take this."

"This is it?" Reflet said, raising the glass. She furled her eyebrows, swirling the light-blue liquid as she brought it to her lips. "How exactly should I take this?"

"You simply drink this once a month. The potion should do the rest of the work itself."

"...Is that all I have to do?" Suddenly it felt as if the drink got a lot heavier in her hands. Remembering Liz'z talk with her, she thought that she'd have to be extremely lucky to grow something like breasts at her age. And now it turned out that this one drink was capable of giving her exactly what she wanted?

For some reason, she expected that there'd be a lot more to it than that.

"Quite frankly, yes," Canas answered. "I hope to make improvements in the future so that the effect of the potion will be more immediate and lasting. But it should be effective enough in its current state. I'm sure that with time, your body will become one that you're more comfortable with."

"Alright then. If that's all I have to do, then here goes…" Reflet drank the liquid, quickly learning how bitter its taste was. There was also a slight hint of mint to it, which tasted nice but did nothing to help the foul bitterness. She stifled a gag as she chugged through half of it, shutting her eyelids as she kept going. Eventually she downed the entire drink, putting the flask down while letting out a tiny burp.

"Blegh! That tasted terrible!" Reflet stuck her tongue out in disgust, blowing a raspberry.

"And yet you powered through it. Impressive," Canas said, taking out his notebook. "Now that that has finished, how do you feel?"

Reflet put a hand on her chest, trying to feel out her emotions. "I feel… better?" She felt a small, yet, powerful spark inside her rising up her chest. She grinned and giggled, giggling more and more as the spark grew sharp and intense. "This feels great! I don't know why but I feel very happy now!"

"Perhaps you're feeling that things are finally going to go right for you?" Canas offered, writing something down in his notebook. "A euphoria of sorts, stemming from anticipation and hope that the future will be promising?"

"I think so!" Reflet kept giggling, feeling light and free. "If all I have to do is drink that terrible juice once a month, then that's just a piece of cake if it means I'll get the things and other things!"

"I'm certain you'll feel much happier in the future." Canas smiled at her, picking up his bag and slinging it onto his back. "Now, make sure to see me in a month from now for another examination. I must return to my business however, so I shall see you another day."

"Thank you so much!" she said, waving him off as he left the room. She bounced up and down once again, squeaking in pure delight. This was wonderful. She couldn't wait for what the future would hold.

* * *

The sounds of metal and wood clashing rang through the training yard as Chrom picked up a sword. Even though their drills were finished, those who stayed behind were going at it more fervently than they normally did. He searched the grounds before his eyes landed upon Gaius, who casually leaned on a wall while doing the same exact thing.

"Sup, Blue," Gaius said when his eyes met Chrom's. Shrugging his shoulders, he stayed in place as Chrom went over to him. "Do you need help with something or what?"

"Wanna fight?" Chrom said, raising his sword up.

"Against you?" Gaius scoffed. "Heh, do you think I got a death wish?"

"Err, I'm not asking to fight to the death, I just wanted to spar." Crossing his arms, Chrom lifted an eyebrow. "How is sparring going to kill you?"

"Of course it won't, but it didn't take long for me to figure out just how strong people in this group can be." Gaius smirked, biting his thumb. "And you're sitting right at the top. Fighting you is like trying to take down a bear with only a knife."

"I don't think I'd make a good bear, maybe a wolf?" Chrom scratched his chin, then lowered his sword. "But I can see what you mean. Still, if you're not willing to fight me, then I'll just find someone else." He turned around and walked away, only to be stopped when he heard Gaius call out to him.

"Hang on, I didn't say I wouldn't fight." Gaius got off the wall, stepping forward with a hand raised.

"Huh?" Chrom turned right back around. "But didn't you just say it was going to be way too difficult?"

"It might seem strange but my line of work requires me to do whatever is needed so I can make a clean escape. And that means being able to come out of fights against people with your kind of strength." Gaius picked up a practice sword off the rack and threw it into the air, catching it in a reverse grip. "Let's go."

"Hmm, I guess I can get that way of thinking." Chrom drew his sword with both hands. "Then let's fight."

Chrom went for the first blow only for Gaius to sidestep immediately. Despite his supposed reluctance to fight, Gaius sure was quicker than he anticipated. He dodged under every single one of his strokes, parrying over half of them.

"Come on, Blue! You know you can do better than that!" Gaius taunted as he put distance between themselves. Chrom chased after him, strengthening the force behind his attacks as he tried to pin down the elusive thief. Yet no matter what he did, nothing was enough to catch him. After Gaius slipped past another one of his swings, Chrom rushed forward and leaped into the air.

However, the moment his feet were off the ground was the exact same moment that Gaius flashed a grin. Gaius slipped past his blade just as he came crashing down, wrapping around behind his back in a flash. With a drive of his blade downwards, Gaius sent Chrom swiftly to the floor, knocking him down on his stomach.

"And that's a sweet victory for me." Gaius grabbed the edge of his blade and threw it into the air, catching it by the hilt.

He crouched down on his knees, giving Chrom his hand. "Come on, get up," he said, pulling him back on his feet.

Chrom grunted beneath his breath as he rose. "Damn, I'm not strong enough yet," he said as he held onto his head.

"That move of yours sure comes out fast and strong," Gaius said, wiping the sweat that soaked his face. "But if someone sees you coming and prepares for it, they could just step out of the way and whack you like I did."

"I see," Chrom said as he scratched his chin. "So, how'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Eh, I picked up some skills while I was on the job." Gaius showed him hands, clapping them together behind his head.

"Right, and your job is stealing from people." Even though Chrom let him join the Shepherds, the fact that Gaius was a thief was not lost on him.

Gaius shrugged and scoffed back. "Hey, I'm not noble like you and most of this merry little group of buddies, but there's value in these talents. Say we need to raid an enemy base to lift something off of 'em. Instead of going in blindly and taking everyone head on, we'll save us all a lot of trouble by just sending in a single person. Someone who's used to this kind of scenario and can get in and get out without ever tipping the guards off." He pointed a finger to himself, flicking it forwards. "That person would be me."

Chrom crossed his arms, furling his eyebrows into a bunch. "I see your point. But I don't want to hear about anymore stealing while you're here with us, alright?"

"Yeah-yeah." Gaius lazily waved his hand, turning around. "I'm gonna head out now, but it looks like someone's here for you."

"Hmm?" Chrom turned around to see a man approaching him as Gaius left. One of the court wizards, judging by his appearance.

"Good afternoon, Prince Lowell," the man said. With the way his hair was styled and the glasses he wore, Chrom could've sworn he'd seen the mage in passing before.

"You're Canas, right?" he said, the name coming to mind.

"Correct," he said with a nod. "It's a pleasure to properly meet your acquaintance."

"So what brought you all the way to Felia? I thought the mages were stationed back at the palace."

"I'm afraid I'm here because of the incident that occurred less than two weeks ago." Canas inched his head down, softly exhaling through his nose. "I'm sure you're well aware of the attempt on the queen's life, correct?"

"...Yes, I am," Chrom said, his hand balling up at the mention of his sister.

"Once we heard wind that Emmeryn was kidnapped, the palace was thrusted into turmoil. A letter arrived from Gangrel, outlining his demands. Our people grow restless with each passing day, with many in fear that Her Majesty's life will be taken away from them. And in her absence, the disappearances of the prince and princess have made some fear the worst."

Chrom nodded. "I've sent a letter to the palace informing them of our whereabouts. It should have arrived around the same time you reached here."

"I'm sure that will provide some form of relief." For a moment, Canas smiled, wiping said smile soon after. "However, I did not come here simply to bring you a report on the status of the palace. After witnessing the events unfold as they have, I've deemed that it is now necessary to join you."

"Join us? For what reason?" Though he had no issue with adding another to his ranks, he was curious as to why it was necessary.

"Simply put, these last few weeks have given me much to ponder over. I realize now that if I am to help save the life of our queen, then I must be more direct with my actions." Canas pushed the glasses on his nose ridge upwards, looking at Chrom with firm, hard eyes, eyes which flickered with a drive as intense as a burning flame.

"Very well, then fight alongside us." Chrom said. "Our mission won't be easy, and we need every fighter we can get. We're welcome to have you aboard."

"Thank you," Canas said. "I hope I can prove useful to you in any capacity."

* * *

_March 31_ ,

It was another week of planning for Reflet as she waited for the Shepherds and Ferox to prepare, but now they were all set and ready to head out. Listening to the Khan's advice, they made their way to the coastline of the massive lake south of the country, the one that separated Ferox, Ylisse and Plegia.

"Ready to start the plan, Reflet?" Chrom asked as the last boat was pushed into the water.

Reflet looked around the lakeside, getting one last look at their surroundings. The forested dock was quiet in the brink of dawn. She watched as their allies entered the two boats they'd be using, waiting for the signal to advance.

"Yeah, I think so…" she said.

"Good, then let's move out," Chrom said.

They took off for the Plegian coast. Behind them, the wall of Ferox started to gradually disappear until it reached the point where Reflet could no longer view it behind the misty fog. She leaned her head over the side of the boat. A clear, blue expanse of water rippled and played right underneath them. Reflet put a hand on her chest, lightly scratching it as she admired the lake's beauty.

"I see you're enjoying the view there." Chrom walked over to her side, gazing over to the horizon.

"Yeah," Reflet said, still gazing at the blue waves. "It's mesmerizing." This might've been her first time on the water, and she would describe it as nothing short of that.

"How long is it going to take us to cross?" he asked.

Reflet lifted her head up. "If we keep going without stopping, we should get to the right place a few hours after midnight." She swirled a finger around, pointing southeast. "There's going to be a rocky coast where we can hide our ships. From there we can set up camp for the night."

Her eyebrows knitted themselves as she sighed to herself. Though she had inputs from everyone during the many war meetings, in the end, the plan that they would be using was the one she came up with.

"Then make sure to rest up. We'll take shifts on watching the deck." Chrom ruffled her hair, sending her on her way.

"Thanks." Reflet smiled, leaving the waterside to make her way to the cabins. She entered the room just in time to catch Cordelia sitting upright in her bed.

"Cordie!" Reflet perked up, seating herself cross-legged on her own bed. "How are you?"

"I'm feeling alright," she said, waving her hand. "I think it's time for me to get up." She took the blanket off of her, getting out of bed with a stretch.

"Are you sure you'll be okay? How's your injuries?"

"I'll be fine," she said, stretching one arm over the other before holding her left leg for a moment. "I've got a week to go before I'm ready to fight for again."

"Okay," Reflet said, "but if you're still feeling weak or something happens again, Chrom and I will come to help, okay?"

Cordelia shrugged. "Well if you'd like to help, then maybe you can pick up a sword and let me beat you five times again?"

Reflet gasped out a noise as leaned back in her seat. "Cordie!" She arched forward, hugging her shoulders as she pouted at the women who held a satisfied smirk.

"Sup, ladies."

The bed suddenly rocked up and down, making Reflet squeak as she was treated to Liz vaulting over the frame of the bed and into the spot next to her. The blonde woman grinned at Reflet, snickering loudly.

Reflet pouted at Liz, pressing her hands on her feet. "You both are meanies!" she said, her knees wiggling up and down.

"Hell yeah we are!"

The bed rocked with twice as much force as another person jumped into it. Reflet bounced with another squeak, turning around to see a woman with spiky red hair laughing loudly

"Sully!" she whined.

"What's up, runt?" Sully winked, ruffling her hair with a rough pat. Reflet lowered her head as she let herself be pet, grumbling with puffed cheeks and a red face.

"I swear, if you both are going to be noblewomen, the least you could do is act like so and not jump wildly into a woman's bed." Maribelle entered after her, looking at Sully with an annoyed glare.

"Sorry about that, Princess. If it'll make you feel better, we could let you jump into Liz's bed and get wild yourself." Sully pointing her hands towards the bed behind Cordie's, raising her eyebrows up and down repeatedly.

Maribelle's jaw dropped, her cheeks immediately turning red like a fire. She flicked her head away from Sully, crossing her arms tightly. "A noble lady does not 'get wild' with princesses!"

"Even if she's askin' for it?" Sully said, shrugging while putting her hands up.

"Yeah, Maribelle! Come on and get wild with me!" Liz got off Reflet's bed and jumped into hers, beckoning for Maribelle to come to her.

Maribelle put a hand over her mouth and clenched down on it. She walked over to Cordelia's bed, gently sitting herself down as she blew a long breath. "Cordelia, Reflet, how are you two more respectable than two members of what should be Ylisse's finest houses?"

"We are?" Reflet said with a tilt of her head.

"Clearly." Taking her hand off her face, Maribelle let out another deep breath.

"Sorry, Maribelle, you're just going to have to live with this." Cordelia sat back on her bed, hugging her friend.

"Yeah, better get used to it," Sully said, "'cause Liz is gonna drive you wild until you're both out of breath!"

Maribelle's jaw dropped again as the red flush of her face creeped all the way to her neck. She buried herself into Cordelia's pillow, letting out a muffled scream. Sully held her forehead as Liz fell backwards into her own pillow, the both of them in a fit of hysterics. Cordelia joined in with her own giggle, followed by a small one from Reflet herself.

"So, are you all ready for what's coming for us?" Sully said. "It won't be long until we find ourselves in the heart of our enemy's home."

Reflet's smile faded away. "...Yeah, we'll be there soon."

"How's that plan coming along?" Sully asked. "You're in charge of it, right runt?"

"I've done as much as I can so far," she said, lowering her head. "We won't be able to begin until at least after the Pegasus Knights reach us when we get to Plegia."

The room grew quiet all of the sudden as the others looked at Reflet. That's when Liz got out of her bed, going over to Cordelia's and taking a seat between their two friends without saying a word.

"I hope we can save her," she finally said with a quiet voice. Reflet looked her in the eyes to see the usual light they had in them turn faint. The room turned so silent that the only thing Reflet could hear was the occasional wave splashing outside. Liz dug her nails into the fabric of her dress, her head down and shaking ever so slightly.

Maribelle grabbed her by the arm, moving closer and then giving her a hug. "I hope the same for everyone's sake. Your sister doesn't deserve the position she's in."

"Me too," Cordelia said, putting her hand on Liz. "Your sister is a great queen and an even greater woman. We're going to save her, alright?"

Despite their words of encouragement, the silence still lingered in the room. The only thing to break it was the stern voice of Sully.

"Why are you all talking like that? Y'all are saying you'll save her, but your faces sure look like they've all given the hell up." Sully crossed her arms and looked straight at Liz. "Of course we're gonna save her. And do you know why?"

She got up from her seat, standing tall with pride. "Because we're here. We've been bustin' our necks day in and day out, so don't tell me we're gonna give up right when things start to get tough! Let me tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna go out there, we're gonna march into that city and we're gonna break that sister of yours out of her jail cell if it's the last thing we'll do! Ylisse needs its queen back, and we're the ones who'll bring her to it! Because we're all Shepherds, and it's our job to save people!"

"Indeed, we are the Shepherds." Maribelle said as she gave Sully a nod. "You all saved my life many weeks ago, and now we must save Emmeryn just as she would for any of us." She turned back to Liz and looked warmly into her eyes, cupping her cheek as she ran her thumb along the side of it.

"We'll save her, my darling," Maribelle said. "Have hope, I promise you no less." She gave her a sweet smile, giving her a hug filled with a warmth that made Liz smile back. Liz started giggling soon after, planting a kiss on Maribelle's cheeks before she held both her hands.

"Yeah, let's do it!" Liz said. "We're the Shepherds, and saving people is what we do best!"

Seeing how sweet the two were made Reflet smile in kind. "Yeah, we'll save her!"

"Damn right we will!" Sully shouted. "Now let's go out there and win this!" She threw a fist into the air with a cheer, followed by the other four doing the same. Together they left the room, now pumped more than ever.

* * *

Cordelia made her way to the deck and went over to the edge of the boat. She laid her hands across the rim, lifting her head so that she could gaze at the night sky. Taking in the sounds of the waves underneath her, she let out a soft sigh, watching the black lake glitter with moonlight.

Further down the railing stood Chrom, doing the exact same thing as her. She went over to his side, stopping right behind his shoulder.

"Hey," she said, leaning forwards with her hands behind her back.

Chrom turned around. Underneath the moonlight, she could see only his warm eyes and wonderful smile. "Hey yourself."

Cordelia snickered in response. "How long have you been there?"

"Pretty much the whole day." He turned back around, staring once again at the sea beyond. Cordelia stepped closer to the rim, watching the sea alongside him.

"Everything seems so peaceful tonight. We've never been on a boat before, have we?"

"Yeah, I think you're right." He let out a sigh, turning his head to hers. "But this peace won't last. In a few weeks, we'll be thrown into what might be the toughest mission we've faced yet. And on the other side of the country we have Basilio leading his army through the Longfort and towards the Midmire. It won't be long before he makes contact with the enemy."

"Then let's work to end this war quickly," she said. "The faster we finish this, the faster we can share more peaceful moments like this one."

Chrom nodded, lowering his head down. "I just want to get her back…" he said, looking off in the direction of the Plegian coast.

"We'll bring her back, I promised it." Cordelia raised her hand up, bringing it close to his shoulder. Yet she hesitated before she could touch him, pulling away with a small shake. Her teeth clenched themselves as her fist did the same. Then her eyes followed suit, closing themselves tight.

Still, despite her nervousness, she made herself take a breath, then opened her eyes and her hand along with them. She brought her hand back to his arm, running it along his elbow before resting it on the crook of his shoulder.

"And when the war ends and things go back to normal," she continued, "do you maybe wanna…"

Cordelia trailed her words off as she found her face burning terribly hot like it used to.

"Wanna do what?" Chrom said, meeting his eyes with hers.

The heat in her cheeks set her ablaze with an even stronger flame. She swallowed the saliva in her throat, feeling it slither downwards as she struggled to speak. "D-do…"

"Hmm?" Chrom said. It was difficult to tell what he was thinking. It was far too dark and his expression was too unclear.

The heat in her face grew worse and worse as she gazed in his eyes, and now she tripped and stuttered on her words. "Do you wanna go to the beach with me?" she managed to sputter out, her words pushing themselves out of her mouth. She then quickly shut her eyelids after realizing what she said, opening them halfway to try to gauge his reaction.

"So you want to go to the beach, that's it?" Chrom crossed his arms. "Like, just you and me?"

His words made an inferno surge inside her head over the prospect of being somewhere special while she was alone with him. A massive grin cracked on her face as she started giggling uncontrollably on the spot.

But then her joy was soon dashed away when she saw the confusion growing in his eyes, stinging her in the heart.

"It doesn't have to be just us!" she said, backpedaling on her words. She let go of his shoulder, placing her hand on her head as her giggle devolved into an awkward laugh. "We can go with Liz, or Emm, or Reflet! Let's take everyone, actually! It'll be fun for all of us!"

"Hey, are you feeling alright?" Chrom furled his eyebrows. "You're sounding nervous, Cordie."

 _Oh gods, he's noticed_. Cordelia took many deep breaths through her nose before letting out a single sigh, putting both hands on her chest.

"Sorry about that," she said, trying to keep everything under control. "I just thought it'd be nice to go somewhere I like with my best friend."

"If that's all, sure." Chrom straightened his back as a smile appeared on his lips. "That actually sounds wonderful."

"Really?" she said, her grin bubbling to the surface once more. "I mean, great!"

"Yeah, I'd love to go with you." He stepped forward and bridged the gap between them. Before she could even realize it, he wrapped his arms around her back, bringing her close to him.

"Let's promise each other that we'll go there together when we get the chance, okay?" he said, looking down at Cordelia with his sweet, blue eyes. Cordelia's lips parted from one another as she found herself gazing back into those eyes. They looked so loving, so warm. In that moment, she lost herself. She didn't want to do anything else but to stare at his eyes forever.

"Hiya guys!"

Reality smacked Cordelia upside the head. She yelped, pulling herself away just as Reflet came over.

"Hey Reflet," Chrom said, stretching his back as he yawned. "What are you doing?"

"I just woke up from my nap," she said. "And what about you two?"

"We were just talking about going to the beach together," Chrom said.

"Uhh, yeah. What he said." Cordelia started feeling lightheaded. It dawned on her what just happened, she could only pray to Tiki that the night was able to cover the flush on her cheeks.

"You two are going to the beach?" Reflet put a finger on her cheek before letting out an excited gasp. "Does that mean you two are—!"

"Reflet, can I talk to you over there?" Cordelia said before the girl could get another word in. She looked back at Chrom, nodding her head.

Chrom smiled and gave them a wave. "I'll be over here." He rested his elbow on the rim of the boat, putting his hand under his chin as he yawned another time.

Cordelia took Reflet to the other side of the boat, away from Chrom. "Reflet, what were you trying to say?"

"I was just going to ask if you and Chrom finally made up," Reflet said.

"Yeah, we did." Cordelia looked back at Chrom, laughing softly to himself.

"Yay!" Reflet clapped her hands together. "So why are you going to the beach together?"

"Well, I just thought it'd be nice to go out with him once the war ends," she said. "It'll give us something to look forward to."

"Oh, I see." Reflet nodded only to gasp again. "Wait, you're gonna go out with—?"

Cordelia screamed inside her head as she shut her up with her finger. "Shhhh!"

"Mpphmmpphm!" Reflet muffled out. Cordelia wrapped herself behind her, keeping her in a bind with her arms.

"Shh, he'll hear!" She walked backwards, making sure Chrom couldn't hear them. "Be quiet!" she told the goblin.

"Sorry!" Reflet whispered, taking her finger off of her. "Are you taking him on a date?"

"Not really," she said with a shake of her head. "We're just going to hang out as friends."

"But I thought you liked him?" Reflet asked.

"I do, but with everything that's been happening lately, I don't think it's a good idea to try to get him to like me."

Reflet crossed her arms. "But he likes you already though, doesn't he?"

"I know he cares about me, but I still don't know if he likes me…" Cordelia lowered her head, grabbing her shoulder. "...romantically." She blushed, looking at Chrom and then back to Reflet. "Let's say he doesn't like me, then it'll just make things awkward between us. I want to be someone he can rely on, and I don't know if that could happen if it turns out he's not into me. Things are going great right now, I don't want my feelings to get in the way of that."

"If that's what you think you should do, then I get you." Reflet brought her hands to her chest, giggling. "But I like that you two are close again. It's super cute."

"Thank you Reflet," Cordelia said with a sigh. "Come on, let's walk back to Chrom."

"Okay!" Reflet nodded, heading back with her to where Chrom was. Cordelia peeked to see his eyes shut and his head buried into his shoulder.

"Hey Chrom," Cordelia said. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Chrom said sleepily as he turned to her, letting out a yawn. "Oh, hi Cordie. Did you two finish talking?"

In his drowsiness, he leaned his back so far on the edge of the boat that he nearly fell out of it.

"Woah!" Cordelia shouted. She grabbed him by the arm before he flipped over the edge, pulling him back in with the help of Reflet.

"Okay, wow," Chrom said, now wide awake. "Thank you both for that." He grabbed his nose, lifting his head up. "I think I'm too tired to stay up."

"Let's get you some sleep, Captain." Cordelia said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Right," Chrom said, lifting his head back up. The two of them went back inside the ship, with Cordelia guiding his movements.

"Hey, Cordie," Chrom said, stopping her just as they reached the door to his cabin. "Be careful, okay?"

"Be careful?" Cordelia said, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You've been putting extra pressure on your other leg. It still hurts, right?"

Cordelia looked down at her left leg, shuffling it around. "You figured that out while half-asleep?"

"Actually it was just before we hugged." Chrom straightened his neck, keeping his eyes open. "I know you're strong, but don't push yourself more than you should. If you're feeling too weak then you should sit these next few battles out, okay?"

"...Sorry Chrom, but I can't promise that." Cordelia shook her head. "There's a war out there and I'm not going to let this injury stop me from doing my part. I can do this. I want to do this."

"Alright then. But just be careful." Chrom took her by the hand, holding it tight. "Please, don't get hurt again."

"I won't," she said, locking her fingers with his. "Thank you for caring about me. I'll make sure to come back safe."

"Thank you." He opened the door and went to his bed, taking a seat next to her.

"Of course, that's what friends are for." Cordelia got up, letting go of his hand. She made her way back to the entrance, stopping just before she left.

"And, Chrom?"

"Yeah?" he said.

She turned her head back, grinning. "I'm glad we got to talk today."

"Me too." Chrom chuckled, falling backwards and sprawling into his bed.

"Go take a nap, you dork," Cordelia said, giggling.

"Mmhm," he slurred out, pulling the blanket over himself. And just like that he was out cold. Cordelia shook her head and rolled her eyes, chuckling as she left back to the deck.

* * *

Reflet admired the water in front of her, watching the waves play once again. Though its color shifted from a warm blue to a cold black, it was just as beautiful to her as before.

"I'm back," Cordelia said as she returned to the deck. "What do you say we get through our shift together?"

"Mmhm," Reflet said with a nod. They continued to watch the sea, waiting for any sign of the coastline when somebody else came onto the deck.

"It is rather late, but good evening," they said. "Do you mind if I join you both?"

Reflet turned around, finding Canas standing behind them. "Hiya, you're awake too?"

"Quite," he said, heading over to them. He quickly bowed to Cordelia, adjusting his hat.

"Have we met before?" Cordelia asked. "You seem familiar…"

"Technically, one could say that we both have and haven't and both would be correct." Canas lifted his head upwards, tapping his jaw with his thumb. "Though for the sake of simplicity, we've only met in passing."

"Uhh, right," Cordelia said, slowly nodding along. "In anycase, it's nice to meet you."

"Why are you up right now?" Reflet asked. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Normally I would at such a late hour, especially with the upcoming task at hand," he said. "However, I'm afraid I had a nightmare earlier that kept me awake."

"What was the nightmare about?"

"My dream was of a couple of companions of mine." Canas put a hand on his head, then lowered it to adjust his glasses. "I spent my entire life with them up until the day I arrived at Ylisse. We've been separated for quite some time now, and these night terrors of mine have plagued me ever since."

"Wow, I'm sorry," Reflet said. "I hope you sleep better soon."

"It's quite alright. I've long grown used to them." He paused for a moment to look at the sea, before looking back at both Cordelia and herself.

"Might I ask you both a question?" he said. "What do you think the purpose of dreaming is?"

"The purpose of dreaming?" Reflet repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Humans dream, and yet there is no clear reason as to why they occur in the manner which they do. They don't seem to be vital, and hardly any dream shares a proper semblance of structure that the real world does. They're disorderly, with no rhyme or reason." He shifted his attention back to the sea ahead. "And yet at the same time, it cannot be dismissed that many dreams feel as if they have purpose. But why?"

"I've only had one dream before, and a really bad one at that." Reflet grabbed her left hand, rubbing the back of it. "I don't really know."

"Sometimes you can dream of things you really want in real life," Cordelia said. "Like ones about being in love or being the best in the world. I know plenty of people who've had such dreams at least once in their lives. I think they represent the things you already desire, pushing you to want to make them real."

"A want for something within a dream could reinforce the want to have it in real life," Canas said. "Yes, I think I understand the thought. Would you mind if I ramble on about my own thoughts?"

"Sure, right Cordie?" Reflet said, looking at her to see her shrug and nod.

"Go for it," Cordelia said.

"Thank you very much," Canas said. "I believe some nightmares are the fears of the subconscious given shape and form. For example, the loss of or separation from a loved one can be one of those fears. It is common when someone loses a person or persons they care about for said person to grieve over their loss. When they grieve, they often experience a period of vulnerability in which they feel several emotions such as irritation, despair, distrust, or apathy." He took his glasses off and held them in his hand. He sighed underneath his breath, wiping them clean. "Perhaps those nightmares and emotions are the product of the body seeking to grieve."

"...What about a dream where you killed someone?" Reflet asked. "And what if that dream felt so real, it was like it actually happened even though it never did?"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, Cordelia's. Cordelia hugged her, making Reflet smile before pulling away. "I'm sorry, Reflet."

"It's okay," Reflet said, focusing back on Canas. "But what about those dreams?"

"There have been those in this world who have claimed to have had similar experiences. I'm afraid, however, that I do not know why such dreams occur." Canas shook his head, looking at the sky above. "A dream so real that it's almost as if it was a memory or a vision, except it has yet to exist. In a certain manner, I've felt that I've experienced such a thing before, though not while I was asleep."

"When you weren't asleep? What do you mean?" Reflet asked.

"There was a certain part of my past that was a source of numerous struggles for my companions and myself," he said. "Now that I reside in Ylisse, it feels as if that time spent never truly existed. That might be for the best, as the main reason why I came here in the first place was specifically to ensure that no one would endure what we faced."

"I think I get that," Cordelia said. "It's like when you're fighting for the sake of others. Our kingdom went through one of the harshest famines and wars we'd ever seen. The Shepherds is Chrom's way of protecting Ylisse, just like how Emmeryn's way is her ruling the kingdom with kindness. And we follow the two of them because we all believe in the same things they do, myself included."

"Yeah, kind of like what Marth did…" Reflet put her hand on her heart, feeling it sink.

"Marth?" Canas's eyes narrowed. He fiddled with the frame of his glasses, turning away from them. "Yes, I suppose Marth would be the sort of person to do things under the belief that would ease another's heart."

Reflet brought her eyes to his. "Did you know her?"

"...Excuse me, but last I checked, the prince of Altea was male."

"Oh, never mind then." Reflet shaking her head. For a moment, she thought he meant her Marth—Mar-Mar. Though considering everything Marth told her, that seemed unlikely at all. Marth didn't want to interact with anyone if she could avoid it. And even though she herself really liked being around the swordswoman, that didn't stop Marth from leaving them.

"Well, I believe that's all I have to say regarding dreams currently. I certainly enjoyed this discussion, and learned much as a result." Canas turned back around and leaned his elbow on the edge of the boat. "It will be a few more hours before we reach the coast. Even if I was exhausted currently, I doubt I will gather much rest now. I think I'll spend the remainder of my time watching the sky above."

Seeing him tilt his head up, Reflet followed suit and was immediately treated with a grand sight.

"Woah…" Reflet said, parting her lips from one another. "I've never seen this before." Hundreds, or even thousands of lights glittered in the sky, floating in the darkness far above them. Amidst all of them was a bright full moon, whose light shined downward and painted the sea.

"You haven't?" Cordelia said. "I thought you'd have seen them already."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "Or maybe I just didn't notice them? We've been so busy that I never paid attention until now." Reflet continued to gaze at the sky. "It's so beautiful…"

Just like the sea below, it seemed like there were so many things that were beautiful in this world. Like Emmeryn's binding rings, Chrom's sword, or Marth's eyes. She wanted to see the many beautiful sights that the world had to offer.

"It truly is a sight to behold," Canas said. "Let's view it while we can, before we reach our destination."

"...Yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Author here! This chapter took quite a long time to get out, but I'm glad with how it's turned out.
> 
> I actually wanted to mention that if you like Fire Emblem fics, then you should check out the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord server. It's pretty cool, and has a lot of fics for Fire Emblem as well as other fandoms!
> 
> The discord invite is: /9XG3U7a
> 
> A couple of writers of some very great Fire Emblem fanfics (Aberration, Rigged from the Start, All The World's a Sale, and Stolen Remedy) went ahead and reviewed A Pale-Blue Awakening during the end of one of their hour-long podcast episodes! Give it a try if you wanna hear 4 people talk about magic and stuff!
> 
> The soundcloud link is: /fanfiction-treehouse/episode-6-abracadabra-alakazam
> 
> And I have a Twitter now! If you wanna see snippets of future chapters for Pale, check it out! 
> 
> The twitter handle is: @T_A_K_K_A
> 
> Catch ya later!


	16. Within the Quiet Night

Donny caught Vaike's fist before it reached his face, pushing back with everything he had. Vaike grinned before lunging around him, wrapping his arms around Donny's head. He pushed down on Donny, using his weight to drag him to the floor of the board deck.

"Give it up, boy scout!" Vaike said, letting out a chuckle as Donny tried to fight back.

Donny struggled to pull Vaike off of him, barely managing to lift his opponent's arm up by an inch. With a loud shout, he quickly slipped underneath the headlock, grabbing Vaike's arm on the way down. In that decisive moment he threw Vaike downwards, turning his weight and momentum against him. Vaike hit the floor, and Donny followed up immediately with a headlock of his own.

"One, two!" Donny said, not even getting to three before Vaike tapped out, hitting the floor with his hand.

"Alright, alright!" Vaike said, trying to get up. Donny let go of him, helping him get back on his feet.

"You're getting pretty good at this!" Vaike said.

"You think so?" Donny asked.

"Sure!" Vaike wound his arm up, putting on a smirk. "Of course, the Vaike was just holdin' back."

"If you say so," Donny said, smirking back, "The Vaike."

"Heh! Get over here!" Vaike wrapped his arm around Donny, giving him another one of his noogies as the two of them shared a laugh.

"Hey guys!" Sumia shouted, looking at them from her spot at the side of the boat. "We've reached land!"

"Sweet!" Donny said.

He and Vaike shared a look, nodding at each other before making a mad sprint to see who could reach the others first. Donny jumped off the side of the boat, his feet sliding as he landed on a shore made of thousands of small pebbles. He picked himself back up with a kick off the ground, going straight for the group of Reflet, Cordelia and Frederick.

"Alright! First one here!" he said, stopping with a slide as he reached his other friends.

"Ah, damn it!" Vaike said, reaching just a second late after him.

Cordelia crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at the both of them. "Were you guys running here?"

"We sure were, 'cause we were racing." Vaike brought his hands over his head. "Why are you all standing here?"

"It's time to give orders, we just have to wait for everyone to get down here," Cordelia said.

"Yeah," Reflet added, crouching down as she scooped up a handful of pebbles, letting them trickle out like sand in an hourglass.

Donny took a look at the place himself and was surprised at just how unique it looked. The entire beachline was entirely made of small rocks, and a tall, rocky cliff was situated just up ahead, with tall trees growing at the top of it.

"Huh," Donny said. "I've never seen this kind of beach before. I thought it'd be more sandy."

"I've seen this kind of coast before, once," Vaike said. "I was just a kid back then, I didn't even move to Ylisse yet."

"Isn't Plegia supposed to be more dry and sandy than this?" Donny asked. This wasn't the kind of beach he was expecting to see on his first visit to Plegia. He was expecting something along the lines of stretches of sand as far as the eye could see.

"Plegia is known for its large deserts, but not everywhere is as sandy as one might believe," Cordelia replied. "We are going to have to start crossing a desert in a few hours, however, so everyone prepare yourselves."

"This beach should be out of the way, so we should be hidden from the Plegian army's sight." Reflet got back on her feet, pointing to the cliff wall. "And that cliff is big enough to hide our boats. Once we stow them away, we need to find a good spot to camp."

"I see," Donny said, turning around to see everyone arriving. "Well then let's get right on it!"

"Right," Frederick said, raising his hand as he turned to the group. "Everyone, move!"

Following his orders, the Shepherds worked together to push their ships over to the base of the cliff, keeping them out of sight. They then immediately made camp, setting up their tents just off the shore in a small patch of grass and dirt. Frederick and Cordelia headed inside the main tent, saying they needed to prepare it for the meeting later.

That left Donny with the others as they got to work setting up the campfire, finishing just as Chrom finally arrived at the camp, taking a seat on one of the logs they found.

"Good early mornin', sir!" Donny said as he got the fire started.

Chrom waved his hand at him, mumbling something he didn't quite catch. His eyes were still closed, meaning he must've stayed up extra late or something.

"Hey Chrom," Reflet said. "Still sleepy?"

Chrom made a short nod of his head. "I am awake, though," he said in a low voice. He stretched out his back, letting out a yawn as he blinked his eyes open. "Do we have coffee?"

Reflet tilted her head up, pausing for a moment before shaking it left and right. "What does coffee look like?"

"They're these brown colored bean-like seeds," Donny answered. He rolled his hand around in a circle, as if turning a crank. "You grind them up and then you turn it into a drink that'll keep you awake."

"Wait, you mean to tell me they're actually seeds?" Vaike said as he took his seat, his jaw hanging open as he bunched his eyebrows together. "Who thought it was a good idea to call them beans then?"

"Why do we call silver weapons 'silver weapons' when they're not made of silver?" Chrom said, lifting his head as he put his thumb and finger on his chin.

"What?!" Vaike exclaimed. "They're not? When did this happen?"

"Silver isn't really good for making swords or axes, so we use another metal called mythril," Donny said. "That stuff's lighter than steel but just as effective. Of course, the stuff's less durable than steel, too."

"Yeah, my stick is made of mythril, too," Chrom added, turning to Vaike. "You remember when I gave Cordie my stick, right?"

Vaike's eyes flared wide open. "You did what, man?"

Chrom raised an annoyed eyebrow. "My rapier? Why do you and Cordie get like that when I say I gave her my stick?"

Donny raised his own eyebrows as he watched Vaike let out one loud cackle. "Umm, Chrom," he said, unable to keep his face straight. "You do realize what you just said, right?"

"What's up with what I said?" Chrom said, letting out a small yawn.

Vaike started breathing properly as he wiped a tear off his face. "I think at this point you're better off just giving her your Queensfang, dude."

"No, she can't have my Queensfang no matter how badly she might want it." Chrom unsheathed his sword and brought it close to his chest. "It's nice and hard and it's mine. I would let her hold it though, but she might have to beg for it."

" _Oh dear Naga, did he seriously say that?_ _He is so bad at this._ "

Donny was too busy laughing to respond to the waking of the ghost inside his head. He leaned backwards, having to catch himself before he fell off his log. Vaike, on the other hand, actually fell off his log, and was now trying to clamber back into his seat.

"What's so funny, guys?" Chrom said, scratching the top of his head. "Reflet, do you know what they're laughing about?"

"I don't know what's happening, either," Reflet said, shaking her head.

"Over here!" Vaike said, still dying of laughter. "I'll tell ya!"

"Wait, should we be telling Reflet something like that?" Donny asked, his chuckle turning nervous as he pushed himself back into his chair.

"Someone's gotta teach her eventually!" Vaike motioned for Reflet to get closer. "Over here Reflet!"

Before Donny could object any further, Vaike was already whispering in Reflet's ears, telling her exactly what he knew he was telling her.

"Oh, oh…" Reflet began to blush hard as she cracked a smile, listening. "Ohhhh… Then that means that those jokes Sully made earlier were…"

"Oh no," Donny said, putting his hand on his head. He watched as Vaike pulled away with a satisfied grin plastered on his face. As he pulled away, Reflet's face turned so pink that she hid herself behind her hair, letting out a long, embarrassed and cute squeak.

 _"Hah!_ _She definitely learned something today!_ "

" _Oh, keep quiet, you_!" Donny said to the ghost in his head. He groaned as he watched disaster unfold. Reflet's face was still buried behind her hands and hair, while Vaike reeled so far forward that he had to hold himself up with his hands. And to cap it all off, Chrom still was just as confused as he was at the start.

" _Don't be so down about it. Look on the bright side, it's funny._ "

" _Yeah, but..._ " Donny struggled to keep his grin from curling back up, pushing it down. It broke through anyways, conspiring with his body which let out a snicker. " _Okay, fine._ " He lifted his head up, mentally speaking to the ghost, " _I guess you're awake again, huh?_ "

" _Mmhm,_ " the ghost replied. This wasn't the first time since his first appearance that he reappeared within his head. He'd done this a few times now, popping in and out to comment on whatever he felt like.

Chrom leaned forward in his chair. "Wait, Reflet, what's the joke?"

"Ah!" Reflet squeaked with a tiny hop in her seat. She slid her fingers down her face, uncovering her eyes. "Umm, the joke is—"

"Wait!" Vaike raised his hand, cutting her off as he climbed back into his seat. "Don't tell him! It's more funny if he doesn't know!"

"Seriously?" Chrom said, throwing his hands up. "Come on Vaike, just tell me already."

"Sorry, Prince!" Vaike said tauntingly. "Maybe you should go ask Cordie about it!"

Letting out a small huff, Chrom crossed one arm over the other. "Well maybe I will."

"Hah! Go for it!" Vaike said, laughing once again afterwards.

" _Yeah, that's definitely a good idea. I can see no way for this to backfire,_ " the ghost said. Donny could feel him rolling his eyes, even with the lack of a proper body.

"Anyways," Vaike said, taking a deep breath as he furled his eyebrows, "calling them silver weapons even though they're not silver has to be some kind of false advertising. Why bother calling it silver then?"

As if on cue, Anna happened to cross by them, carrying her shop bag in both hands. "Because it's easier to convince people to buy your stuff if you tell them it's made out of a 'precious metal' like gold or silver," she said, making air quotes with one hand.

"Seriously?" Vaike said, flashing his eyebrows. "Huh, thanks, Anna."

"No problem." She gave a thumbs up, heading inside her tent.

Vaike made a small chuckle, leaning back in his seat. "Well this sure has been a wild day. What do we got planned next, Chrom?"

"We've got a meeting in about forty-five minutes," Chrom said, rubbing his eyes. "And I think I'm going to need coffee for it."

"Let's get you some coffee, man." Vaike got out of his seat and patted Chrom on the back. "See you guys later," he said to Donny and Reflet, walking with Chrom to go find the stock tent.

"A meeting, huh?" Donny said to Reflet. "Do you know what it's about?"

Reflet uncovered her face, grabbing her shirt and bringing it to her chin. The poor girl's cheeks were still beet red, no doubt due to Vaike's fault.

"We're going to give out the orders to start moving out," she said. "And we're also going to explain the plan for the coming weeks before the day we rescue Emmeryn."

"Heh, I'd never expected you to be the one coming up with our plan," Donny said. "But I'm sure whatever you got cookin' up in your brain is gonna be something awesome!"

Reflet lowered her eyes. "I don't know." She kicked her feet in her seat, bringing her eyes away from him. The two of them stayed quiet as they sat across each other. Donny's smile waned away, and then morphed into a frown as he felt a weight form in his chest.

"Hey, Reflet? I think I need to tell you something important," he said.

"Hmm?" Reflet said, picking her eyes up. "What is it?"

"It's just…" Donny stopped as he felt himself stiffening up. He scratched the back of his neck, digging his finger into the skin along his spine. The weight in his chest sank deeper, feeling heavy like a giant rock.

The ghost spoke up, " _Hang on, if I were you, I wouldn't say what you're about to say._ "

" _Reflet's a sweet and reliable girl. I know we can trust her,_ " Donny said.

" _Who's to say that's true? You don't know what could happen if you tell her anything,_ " the ghost said, his voice distrusting of her. " _What if she tattles on you? Then you'll be in big trouble with the prince over there."_

" _Maybe you're right, but I still trust her."_ Donny closed his eyes as he shook his head. _"It's my decision to tell her, and I'm going to do it."_

"... _Fine, but it's your loss if this backfires. You're on your own for this._ " With that, the ghost returned to the corner of his mind. He could no longer feel him in the space within his own head. Donny nodded, opening his eyes again to see Reflet's tilted head and nervous, quizzicalled expression.

"What's going on, Donny?" Reflet said, crossing her arms. "What do you need to tell me?"

"Sorry about that. I was lost in my thoughts." He chuckled nervously, pointing his thumb backwards. "Is it okay if we go to my tent for this? There's something I need to show you in there."

"In your tent?" Reflet said. "Sure, but how long is it going to take? I need to be at that meeting when it starts."

"It shouldn't take too long. Follow me," Donny said. Reflet nodded, walking with him towards the back of the campsite. He reached the flap of his tent, sliding it open as he gestured for Reflet to go inside. The two took seats atop of his bedroll as Donny reached for his bag, looking for the spellbook.

"You see, there's a bit of a problem I've been dealing with the last few weeks and I haven't been able to tell anyone about it." Donny pulled his bag closer to him as he grabbed the edge of the cover of the book. He muttered to himself as he confirmed it was still there, bringing his head back to Reflet.

"What's the problem Donny?" Reflet said. "You can tell me."

Donny opened his mouth as he tried to speak, only to have his words to get stuck for a moment. "Do you promise not to tell anyone about this?" he managed to say slowly. He rubbed his neck again, lifting his head away from the girl when she reached her hand out to him. She brought her little finger to Donny's, locking hers around his. Shaking it downwards once, she brought their hands back up and nodded.

"I absolutely promise," Reflet said, nodding again.

"Hehe, that's adorable," Donny said, smiling at the sweet girl who cleared his doubts. "Alright, here goes…"

He pulled out the green book from his backpack, showing her its cover and its symbol of the white bow.

"Do you know what spellbook this is, Reflet?"

"Hmm…" Reflet squinted, leaning forward as she inspected every edge of the book. "Nope," she said, shaking her head up and down once.

"Oh right," Donny said, bringing his eyebrows up for a moment. "Yeah, you probably wouldn't have 'cause you got amnesia and all. Well you know about the Legendary Relics, right? Those weapons from the past that were used to save the world, the ones Emmeryn told us about."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with this book?" Reflet said.

Donny opened the book to the first page, showing her the name within it. "...This here is the Book of Forseti."

"It is? But Emmeryn said that tome was supposed to be in the royal vault." Reflet furled her eyebrows before her eyes suddenly flared. "Donny, why do you have this?"

"That's 'cause I took it from the vault when I was supposed to return the money stolen from it."

"You took it?!" she squeaked, hopping in her seat.

"Keep it down!" he whispered, pushing her head back down. "We can't let anyone else hear!"

Reflet whispered back, "Donny, you can't just steal from our friends!"

"I know! I know, but it wasn't my fault! Someone made me do it, okay?"

"Oh," Reflet said, leaning backwards as she quieted down. "Well then who made you do it?"

"...That's a longer story," Donny said, speaking through his teeth. And the ghost in his head wasn't making any sort of comment, either. He really was alone for this.

"What do you think about someone possessing another person, and now they both share a body? You'd probably believe they're either crazy or lying, right?"

After taking a moment to pause, Reflet shook her head left and right. "Nope."

"Wait, really?" Donny's jaw hung. "I would've thought you would've found it even a little bit strange."

"You're not the first to come to me thinking people are going to call them strange when they're not. And I've heard stranger things." As she spoke, Reflet slumped her shoulders, looking down at the bedroll beneath them.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Donny said, sitting an inch closer.

"I just remembered something…" Reflet dug her fingers into her palms, biting her lip.

"What was it?" he asked, only for her to respond with a headshake.

"I'm not allowed to say, they told me a secret like you did," she said, her voice small and tiny. Donny frowned, reaching for her head and putting his hand on her. Poor girl, she looked so unhappy.

"Anyone seen Reflet?" someone called out from outside. "We need her at the meeting now!"

"Eep!" Reflet squeaked, picking her head back up. "We should wrap this up! You were saying?"

"Right," Donny said, pulling away. "I wasn't expecting you to believe me so quickly, but thank you, Reflet. That means a lot to me."

"Of course," Reflet said, getting back up. "So that person who made you steal the book is in your head? They're not making you do other bad things, are they?"

"No, it's not like that," Donny said. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"Okay, but if he does do something, tell me okay?" Reflet put her hands on her hips, giving him one of her many pouts.

"Of course," Donny said. Reflet smiled at him, leaving his tent to make her way to the meeting.

* * *

Reflet hurried to the meeting tent, trying to not be late.

"Reflet, where've you been?" Chrom said, already waiting in front of the tent with a mug in his hands. "I was looking for you."

"Sorry, I needed to talk to someone," she said, shaking her head. "I guess we should go inside now." She entered the tent, taking a look around its yellow walls. There wasn't much to look at. It was just a simple and large tent with nothing in it, save for a table for her and Chrom to put stuff on.

"Are we all ready?" Frederick said, already waiting for them at the end of the tent.

"I think so," Reflet said, moving over to his right.

"We should be," Chrom said, heading to her own right. "Let's call them in."

"Of course," Frederick said. He rang a bell at the end of the tent two times, and within the next five minutes all of the Shepherds entered and gathered inside. They stood together in the middle of the tent, waiting with varying degrees of patience for them to start speaking.

"Good morning everyone," Chrom said. He sipped his coffee, setting it down on the table in front of them. "We're here today to announce our plans for the upcoming weeks. It won't be long before we arrive at the capital, and we need every single one of us to be aware of the situation." His tone of voice was serious, much less relaxed than at the boat trip and campfire earlier.

"Yes," Frederick said, clearing his throat. "This mission will be our most critical yet. With the queen's life endangered, not a single one of us can remain ignorant moving forward."

Some members in the crowd whispered between themselves, mostly quiet murmurs that Reflet's ears couldn't pick up on. She felt a little uneasy watching their eyes, stepping closer to the back of the tent.

"Now, as she was the one who created our strategy, it would be best for her to explain it to us," Frederick said, turning his head to Reflet. "Reflet, would you care to speak for us?"

Reflet squeaked, looking back at him. "Me?" Even though she knew she had to be at the meeting, she wasn't expecting that she'd be speaking at all.

"You are the one who knows the plan the best, after all," Frederick said.

"Umm, okay," she said, bringing her hands to her chest. "Hello there," she said to the crowd in front of her. She waved her hand, swallowing the spit in her throat. "My name is Reflet and I'll be explaining plans."

She tugged on her shirt, lifting it's collar up to her neck. "We will be marching to the Plegian capital in three more hours. Our immediate goal is to find a place where we can get close to Gangrel's palace without raising suspicion." Letting go of her shirt, she nodded quickly. "That's why for the next few weeks, we'll be scouting the city and the area around it for places we can hideaway in. And we'll be picking those scouts the next time we set camp, which will be in the desert."

"And what of your ruler?" someone called out, their hand raised amongst the crowd. That person weaved through the back of the crowd and into the front, revealing themselves as Panne. She looked down at Reflet with hard eyes, her arms already folded together.

"These are all plans towards getting to our mission, yet I hear nothing about the mission itself," Panne said, scrunching her face up for a split-second. "Is it right to assume that you've even prepared one, tiny man-spawn?"

Reflet tensed up even more than she'd already done as Panne's gaze cast down on her. "Meep, we, uh, umm, we'll explain later! We just need to gather more intel before we can pull off the actual rescue!"

"Hmm…" Panne made a sharp tilt of her head, her bunny ears swaying with the motion. She didn't let up her leer, and Reflet lowered her head as she attempted to avert her gaze.

"We do have a general idea of how the rescue's going to go," Reflet said, fiddling with her fingers. "W-we really do just need to figure out a few more things though!"

"She's right," Chrom said, stepping forward and shielding Reflet with his hand. "The Pegasus Knights will be joining us here in a week. We've still got three weeks to prepare, I'm sure that'll be enough time to ease your doubts."

Panne shifted her gaze to Chrom's, staring him down for a moment before tilting her head up. "For your sake, let's hope you're both right. I'm only here to ensure the safety of your ruler, and no other reason."

"We're all here for that reason," Chrom said. "We all may come from different backgrounds, hold different beliefs and different worldviews, but no matter what, we fight with one purpose. By the end of the month we will bring back Ylisse's queen and my sister, you have my word."

"So you'd claim to give me your word? Then prove it," Panne said. "Prove to me that you really are the leader you claim to be." She headed back to the back of the crowd, her eyes still watchful of the both of them.

"I think that concludes the meeting," Chrom said. "You are all dismissed."

With that, the Shepherds trickled out of the tent in a noisy fashion until there was nobody left except for Chrom and Reflet.

"Oh good, it's over," she said. She sighed under her breath, putting a hand on her heart and another on the table.

"I think you did pretty well for your first speech," Chrom said, picking up his mug. "You look tired, do you wanna try some?"

"What's this? Coffee? Sure." Reflet took the mug from him and brought it to her lips. It was a hot, black liquid with a dark aroma. She dipped her tongue into the liquid, shrugging before drinking it down.

"Blegh!" Reflet gagged with her mouth open, fanning her hand. "Aah, too hot!"

"Woah, are you okay?" Chrom said, his eyes wide.

"Yep, but my tongue burns!" She closed her mouth, then stuck her tongue out as she shivered. "And it's bitter. Really bitter, why is it so bitter?"

"Well I didn't wanna add sugar to it." Chrom took the drink back from her. "It tastes fine to me."

"I don't think I like bitter stuff," Reflet said, pouting. "It tastes terrible."

"Maybe we just have different tastes, because I actually like this." Chrom sipped his drink, letting out a breath before setting it back down.

"So, what's got you down?" he said.

"I'm not sure about my plan," she said, shaking her head. "How do we know if it's going to be good? We still haven't figured everything out, just as Panne said so."

"Well you got us this far, didn't you?" Chrom said, crossing his arms. "Reflet, do you know where we are right now?"

"In Plegia," she answered, putting her other hand on the table. "Right at the border of the northern desert."

"Exactly. If we didn't use the plan you came up with, who knows where we'd be right now?"

Reflet tilted her eyes up, tapping on her cheek. "Probably at either the west side of the Longfort with Basilio, or back at that border pass over in Ylisse."

"Which would mean we'd end up having to skirmish with more Plegians," Chrom continued with a nod. "We'd have the advantage over individual, smaller Plegian forces, but we'd still run the risk of Gangrel taking notice of our battles. If he did that, he might take it as a sign to kill Emmeryn before we even reach him."

"Which is also one of the reasons why we couldn't go with those plans," Reflet added, shaking her head with effort. "And we can't let her die, she's our friend and important to us."

"You see Reflet?" Chrom said. "Your plan is our best shot at saving Emm's life. And I trust you, that's why I can put my faith in your strategy. We're bringing her back no matter what it takes, together." He put his hand on her shoulder, patting her softly.

"Yeah, of course we will." Reflet nodded, smiling at him. "Thank you for saying that, Chrom. Let's get her back."

"Of course, anytime," he said.

Still, it wasn't long before her smile faded away. Reflet lowered her head again, biting down on her cheek.

"You still look sad," Chrom said, taking a sip from his coffee mug. "What's up?"

"It's just…" Reflet sighed, picking her head back up. "How do you feel about Mar-Mar leaving us?"

"Well, I guess I miss her," he answered, scratching the back of his head. "I know she was pretty reserved and a bit distant, but it was nice to spend what little time we did have to share together. And I was really hoping she'd say yes when I asked her to join us, having her here would mean not just that the upcoming battle would be a little less hard, but we'd also have another friend to get through it with. But I guess she had other plans, and we've taken different roads since then."

"Mmhm." Reflet shook her head, following along quietly.

"But I get why you're looking so gloomy," Chrom said.

"You do?" she said.

"It's only been a few weeks that Cordie and I started finally talking again," he said, flashing a grin which beamed bright before it faded away. "But before that happened, we didn't even talk for who knows how long. So I get the kind of feelings you're going through. You feel lost, right? Like there's a piece of you that's missing?"

"Yeah, I do," Reflet said, hugging herself by the shoulders. She choked out a small, single sob, grasping tight at her heart. "I miss her a lot."

She sobbed only one other time as Chrom brought his hand over to her head. He gently ran it down the side of her messy white strands of hair, bringing it back up and starting anew.

"Losing friends can be like that," Chrom said. "And sometimes you don't know whether or not you'll get them back. But even when they're gone, we need to keep pushing forward. Our lives will continue to go on, and we have roles and duties to fulfill."

"Thank you, Chrom," she said, sniffling. "Our lives will continue to go on… I like those words." He was right. She could not let her feelings for Marth stop her from going forward. Especially now, with this mission to save the queen and friend that everyone loved. She wiped the traces of tears off her face, taking in a small yet deep breath.

"Is there anything else on your mind?" Chrom asked.

"...Yeah, actually," Reflet said. She knitted her eyebrows together, looking Chrom in the eyes. There was something on her mind since the first days that never really left, and she wanted to know the answer.

"When you found me collapsed and without memory, why did you take me in?" she asked him.

"When we took you in?" Chrom repeated. Well…" He folded his arms, dipping his head and then bringing it back up. "Because you were collapsed and without memory?"

"That's it?" Reflet said, her eyebrows rising crookedly. "So then it was pity?"

"Isn't that enough?" Chrom said, giving a tiny, half-hearted shrug.

"Did you ever think it could've been a trap?" she continued. "Just like what Freddy said when we met."

"That's what we have Frederick for," he said with a light chuckle.

"Yes, but what if he was actually rig—"

"Reflet." Chrom cut her off, his voice now stern. He furled his eyebrows and rasped, tapping his right shoulder. "If I see someone hurt or in need, I'm going to help them. That's just who I am, and there's no changing it. Or would you rather I'd left you there, face down in the muck?

"No, of course not. I'm thankful for what you did, I truly am." Reflet made a tiny, quick shake of her head. "And I get it, I think I would've done the same."

"You would've?" Chrom said, lowering his arms. "From the way this conversation was going I thought you were starting to think the opposite."

"No, no, I just wanted to know why, it's been in my mind for a while." Reflet lowered her head, hugging the long, beige shirt that she'd worn when she'd first woken up. "I didn't think too much about it at first, but I really was lost, wasn't I? I didn't even know you were a prince. How could a prince even take a person like me into their home just like that?"

She clutched tighter on her shirt. "I-, I have no memories, Chrom, no background, I have nothing."

"I don't care about any of that, and I would've done the same if I was a beggar." He brought himself to her eye level, holding onto both her shoulders. "You are not nobody, and no matter who you are or what you do, you'll always be one of my best friends. I'm here with you until the end, and that's never going to change."

"Th… Thank you, Chrom." Reflet let go of her shirt, wiping her nose. "Yeah, I'm here with you till the end, too."

Chrom smiled warmly, patting her twice on her left shoulder. "Now come on, let's get ready to head out."

* * *

_Was I wrong, then?_

Emmeryn brought her hands to her knees as she sat cross-legged on the floor. The chains around her arms clinked with every move she made, a signifier of the position she was in.

She never even got the chance to say anything to her family before she was ripped away from them. She hoped their hearts stayed strong, and that they would not let her kidnapping stop them from leading their people down the right path.

If she were still around her people and her family, what would she say to them? She'd tell her sister to be there for Chrom and everyone as they get further and further into this war.

And she would give a very stern talking to Chrom. He'd been behaving too rashly as of late, and someone needed to keep him in check. Though outside that, she'd only wish for him to stay strong. He was a great leader despite everything, and the Shepherds would need him during this time.

And as for Frederick…

Emmeryn lifted her head up as she tried to figure out of whether or not there was anything she needed to say to him. She had complete faith in him and knew that no matter what, he would never stop protecting her siblings.

She might've just kissed him. Especially if she'd known she was going to be kidnapped and executed. "Go out with a bang" Sully would say, and she understood why. Unfortunately, it didn't seem she'd be able to go out that way.

So was she wrong? Was it wrong to assume that this war could have been avoided? To think it was possible that Gangrel wanted the same peace as her? She thought that was the case, but she'd be wrong if she said the events of the last few weeks didn't seed at least some doubt into the back of her mind. But those events —the kidnapping and the attempt on her life— only served to add to her confusion even more. What exactly was Gangrel hoping to achieve?

The door to her cell opened, and the Plegian king entered the room, accompanied by the Archwitch. A third person came into the room after them. He was a man in a cloak, one that went down to his chest. Dark, ash-blue wraps wrapped themselves around his mouth, working together with the cloak to hide everything but the blue, faint light of his eyes. Underneath the cloak he wore a long, dusk-blue coat, with plate armor covering both his arms. The coat reached down to his legs, splitting open at the waist to reveal his greaves.

"I hope you've found yourself well accommodated," Gangrel said. He looked at the man behind him, pointing to the wall. The man responded with a nod, his boots clanking as he moved to the side.

"King Gangrel," Emmeryn said, getting up and seating herself in the chair she was given. "They've suited me well enough."

"While you're here, I'll have my servants tend to you as they would any important guest, but if we deem that you are no longer useful to us." He swiped his hand swiftly across his neck. "I think you get the picture."

"I'm well aware," Emmeryn said. She nodded her head, watching Gangrel and the other two silently.

"Good, so you are wiser than your brother." Gangrel took a seat at the table in front of him. "Aversa, what's the news on that bastard with blue-hair?"

"The prince has not been sighted since the ambush that took their queen away from them," Aversa said. "On top of that, our scouts have spotted an army making movements near the western front, but they were unable to discern whether the prince was present with them or not."

"Hmm…" Gangrel scratched the red hairs on his chin. "He'll come. It's only a manner of when and how. And I doubt he'd come raising a white flag." He chuckled, then narrowed his eyes. "Send more scouts to the western front. Figure out who's leading them."

"Of course, Your Majesty," Aversa said, bowing her head.

Gangrel turned back to Emmeryn. "I hope for your sake that the prince comes here without a fight, Exalt."

"And if he does?" she asked. "Will you promise that he and those following him will be spared?"

"Do I look like a liar? If I am lying, then stab me in the heart and leave me to die." Gangrel drew an X-shaped cross over the right side of his chest. "You have my word."

Emmeryn lifted her eyebrows upwards. "And… you're being genuine?" That was quite unexpected to hear.

"Of course," Gangrel said, raising his hands. "Now, don't go blaming me if he's the one who comes at me." He smirked. "If that happens, it's on him."

He reached behind his back and pulled out a book, her book to be exact. "So this is the Book of Naga?" he said, opening the book and reading off of it. "Such a powerful weapon, judging by how it was capable of breaking through a blast from my Mjolnir tome. And firing off dragons? Way cooler than fire and lightning, I'll say. It's a shame I can't use it with the bloods I've been blessed with."

Gangrel grinned, turning back to the Archwitch. "Aversa, between the Relics of Naga, which of the three are the strongest?"

"According to the old legends, the answer is the Book of Naga," Aversa said. "It seems the Divine Dragon King channeled the most of her essence into that book in particular, relative to the Queensfang and Fire Emblem."

"Really now?" Gangrel laughed under his breath. "Then it looks like we got out of that ambush with even more than we bet on. Now if only I could get a hold of all three Relics, that would change everything."

"Why do you even need the Relics of Naga?" Emmeryn asked. "You can't even use it. Only members of the Ylissean royal family can wield it."

"I have no incentive to tell you my reasonings. We're still enemies, you and I. Things would be a lot simpler if everything went my way." He snarled, turning back at Aversa. "Since it's more powerful than the Fire Emblem, would we be able to use it as a substitute for our plans?"

"I'm curious myself," Aversa said. "It would make things much easier. I will look into the matter personally, Your Majesty."

"Excellent, let's keep that in mind for now." Gangrel turned back to Emmeryn. "Enjoy these next three weeks, Exalt. Because by the end of it, either your brother will lay down his arms, or things will get dirtier than they need to be. And you won't believe what we've set up for you, it'll be so impressive that you'll drop when you see it—"

"Careful, your Majesty," Aversa interjected. "One more word and you would've given away what we have in store for her."

Gangrel groaned, bringing his hands down. "But what's the point in even making a grand scheme if there's nobody you can rub it in their face?"

"Did you not just say you had no intentions of revealing your plans?" Aversa rolled her eyes as she groaned.

"That's a different plan! This one's less important to keep hidden!"

"Save it," Aversa said. "If the queen somehow gets in contact with our enemies, they could use our plans against us to steal the leverage we currently have."

"Ugh." Gangrel threw his hands up. "Can I at least allude to my master plan?"

Aversa spoke with a slight raise to her cadence, "I highly suggest against it."

Gangrel clicked his tongue and scoffed. "You're no fun."

"Yes, let him speak," Emmeryn said, a smirk curling on her lips. "I'd quite like to hear what he has to say. He might not get the chance to do so later."

"See?" Gangrel pointed his fingers at her. "She gets me!"

"Well aren't you a cheeky queen?" Aversa walked over to her cell bars with a grin. "I see what you're playing and I'll tell you this, it will not work."

"Can't hurt a girl for trying," she said as she shrugged her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the man in the mask shrugging his own shoulders. It almost sounded like he let out a near-silent chuckle.

"Now, we have business to attend to immediately," Aversa said, walking back over to Gangrel. "Let's cut this short."

"Finnne." Gangrel got up from his seat, handing the Book of Naga to Aversa. "Take it with you. I need to go find my axe anyways. And you," Gangrel said as he looked back at Emmeryn, "don't bother trying to break free. I've got guards all over the place. They'll take you down and bring you back here on sight."

"And don't think of using magic to try to escape, either," Aversa added. "A barrier was set up within this room by our mages. To cast so much as a single spell will prove to be impossible."

"A barrier?" Emmeryn brought her eyes to Aversa's, putting a thumb between her lips. "I was not aware such a spell existed."

"Yes, I'm told Ylisseans aren't proficient in the dark arts," Aversa said. "Only the most advanced dark mages can effectively cast such a spell. And even then, you'd need an entire group of skilled sorcerers to create a barrier to fit a room such as this. You could potentially do so with a single sorcerer, but to keep a barrier of this size constantly active would require a mastery of dark magic which could only come from countless years of practicing the art."

"And would it be possible to create a smaller barrier with only one mage?" Emmeryn asked.

Aversa tilted her head forward, bringing an arm over the other. "That seems rather specific, why do you wish to know?"

"I'm simply curious," Emmeryn said, lowering her thumb to the chin. "I'm afraid I don't have enough knowledge on the kinds of magic used in Plegia."

"I don't see the issue in letting her know something as simple as this," Gangrel said. "Yes, it is possible for a mage to use a smaller and less effective version of the Reflect spell. Our institution of magic even teaches the spell to its finest mages. In that case, it'll act more as a magical shield that will block magic spells on contact."

"Thank you." Emmeryn nodded her head as calmly as she could. "Then I've run out of further questions."

"Good," Aversa said, rolling her knuckles. "Then let's leave now."

"Right," Gangrel said as they both turned around. He stopped just as Aversa opened the door, turning to the man in the mask.

"Hey Aversa," he said, pointing to the masked man. "Are you sure he's as reliable as you claim?"

"Why yes." Aversa picked up her smile, chuckling to herself. "He may be one of the newer additions to the royal guard, but the time he's served would say nothing about the skill found within his impressive bladework. Anyone less trustworthy than him would have to be dead."

"Very well, your word is good enough for me. As long as he watches the queen, whatever attack her brother has planned for us will fall in his face." Gangrel smiled as he crossed his arms, letting out a laugh that made Aversa look at him with cold eyes.

"What?" Gangrel said, his grin turning smug. "Did what I say not… land properly? Sorry, I didn't think my words would bring you down."

Aversa swung the door wide open and let out a hiss. "End this charade, now."

"No!" Gangrel put a hand on the right side of his chest. "Not while I'm at the height of my joke! My words are falling flat because of you!"

Emmeryn tilted her head. He was joking? Joking about what?

"Ugh, now look at what you've done," Gangrel said as he shook his head. "I was going to continue but I don't wanna anymore because my mood has dropped dead! And do you know why?"

Aversa walked past the door, holding on to the handle. "I'm going to research information about the Book of Naga and the abilities contained within it, starting right now."

Gangrel threw his hands up. "What, are you just gonna leave me on a cliffhanger?"

Aversa slammed the door on Gangrel as she left the room. Gangrel looked back at Emmeryn, his jaw dropped wide.

"The nerve of that woman!" he said. "Can you believe her?"

Emmeryn blinked rapidly. "Err, you're asking me?"

"Ah, what do you know? You're having a hard time _fall_ -owing along as it is." Gangrel swatted his hand, curling it and bringing it back under his chin. "No, you know what? I'm going to finish the rest of my jokes!" He swung open the door, taking off for the Archwitch.

"I'm not finished with you, Aversa! I'll have you fall victim to my jokes yet! They're going to fall perfectly into place!"

Watching him leave, Emmeryn could only look on in confusion. She squinted, bringing her hand to her head.

What exactly was the joke?

She shook her head, tucking the thought away to focus on more important matters. That conversation gave her much to think about. Gangrel seemed willing to end this war at least somewhat peacefully, but he wasn't going to be pleasant about it. But whether pleasantries were present or not hardly mattered to her, not when the opportunity to end the bloodshed before many more lives could be taken presented itself. If she were in Chrom's position and if she could ensure not one other life was to be claimed, then it seemed surrendering at this point might be the better decision.

And yet, Emmeryn couldn't help but feel that something was off. While she did genuinely wish to learn more about her neighbouring country, what she told Aversa was only a half-truth. On the night of the assassination attempt, Panne and Marth mentioned that the person who attacked Reflet was a dark mage who she could not affect with her magic. At the time, Chrom immediately claimed that the culprit had to be Plegia, and while she originally didn't assume the same due to a lack of evidence, there was no denying that it wasn't a likely possibility given what she knew now. It seemed the Reflect spell provided an answer as to why the mage could prevent Reflet from attacking him, being a dark spell that blocked magical attacks. Ylisse didn't teach dark magic to its spellcasters, and to her knowledge neither did Ferox.

That meant whoever led the attack would have most likely learned dark magic within Plegia, whose very institutions specialize in the form. To say that Plegia couldn't have used someone from their institutions to orchestrate the attack, well that just seemed unlikely given what she now knew.

But that wasn't the only thing that prodded her brain. It might've been a hunch, but the way Aversa looked at her and reacted to her questions rubbed Emmeryn the wrong way. Something was amiss, but she still knew too little to pin down the exact answer.

If only she was still with the Shepherds and not trapped in this cell, then she'd be able to figure out what's really going on.

Emmeryn leaned back in her chair, resting her upper back. Letting out a breath, her eyes turned to the man on the other side of the room. He hadn't said anything since he entered. All he did was watch her with his head turned to the side. Was he even paying attention to her?

"Hello there," she said to him, trying to see if he'd react. Though, and perhaps a bit expectedly, the man said nothing, not even giving her a turn of his head.

"So…" she said, drawing out the 'o' as she looked for something else to say. "You're a part of the royal guard? It must be an honor."

The man stayed silent once again despite her attempts to speak with him. She sighed, bringing her eyes up around the room. She looked at her bed, the table, and the bars of her cell before eventually shrugging and looking back at the man.

"Do you know what those jokes were about?"

After a moment without a response, the man shrugged his shoulders and let out a low chuckle. Once he finished laughing, he paused for a moment, shaking his head left and right before he tilted it upwards.

"...You'll understand later."

"Oh!" Emmeryn said, her eyes widening before a smile perked on her lips. "I wasn't expecting you to speak this time."

"I can speak, I just chose to stay silent." The man adjusted his arms, his armor shuffling around accordingly. "There is no point in whether I speak or not."

"What makes you say that?" she asked, confused.

"It is not my place to say."

Emmeryn narrowed her eyes, cupping her hand around her chin. "Well, if it were my place to say, then I'd say you should speak as you feel. Everyone should have a place to say how they feel, and a fair ruler should live by those words so that their people can live their best lives. I think if we all understood each other, we wouldn't have to fight against ourselves."

"Your words are idyllic." The man shrugged his shoulders. "Fitting of a queen who dreams of endless peace."

"Perhaps so," Emmeryn said, "but wouldn't you say that'd be a nice way to live?"

"Perhaps so…" the man said, "but wouldn't you say that'd be an impossible way to live?"

Emmeryn crossed her arms, taking a moment to pause. "I'm not quite sure, but I genuinely believe it is possible to achieve such peace. Look at the war between my country and yours. If we could just make things right, then the fighting could stop right now."

"Such peace is impossible. All you can do is protect the ones you care about until they vanish." The man shook his head, bringing it up again. "It is better to accept what's inevitable."

Emmeryn put her hand back on her cheek, shaking her head. "Well, your view certainly leaves me curious. I'd like to ask another question if that's okay with you."

The man said nothing, giving her a shrug of indifference as Emmeryn leaned forwards, paying closer attention to him.

"Alright then, what is your name?"

"My name?" The man finally turned his head to meet hers, sighing behind his face mask. "My name has been lost to the depths of time. Still, there is a name that I was given by my master."

"What is it then?"

"That name I've been branded with, is…"

The man trailed off, closing his bright blue eyes. He lowered an arm to his waist, shaking his head one last time before slowly opening his eyes as he spoke his name.


	17. The Lifeblood of this World

_April 3,_

Donny shuffled his feet forward through the sands, adjusting them every so often as to not lose his balance. Wading through this desert wasn't that far from working on the fields at home, except that it was hotter than home was for the time of year. At least it was dry, not like the humid rivers near his village of Southside.

A wind kicked up and caught onto his cloak, lifting it into his face. He stood firm as he pulled the brown cloak down, shielding his eyes as he pushed through the draft, mindful of stray sand. And just like that, the wind died just as soon as it came. His cloak fell back down to his knees, letting him realign it as he kept going forward.

"How are you holdin' up, Reflet?" he asked the girl next to him to kill time.

The girl sighed, tugging down on the hood on her head as if to hide herself from the sun. "I'm fine, but we need to keep going." She turned to him, whispering so that only he could hear, "What else do you know about that ghost? Is he always there in your head?"

"Not always," he replied. "He's there whenever he wants to be, and I don't really control it."

"What's he like?" she asked, tugging on the piece of her cloak at her chest.

"It's hard to say…" Donny brought his finger to his cheek and scratched the scar upon it. "I guess he sort of does whatever he likes."

"Is he nice at least?" Reflet continued.

Donny flicked his hand left and right. "Eh? All I know is that he wants me to hold on to his book. Said it belonged to him, and touchin' it was how he got inside my head in the first place." He reached into the bag on his back, lifting the top of the book before letting it fall back inside.

"How powerful is the book?" Reflet asked, lifting her finger. "It's supposed to be a Legendary Relic, right? Wouldn't that mean it's like another Queensfang? They're both Relics, aren't they?"

"Probably, thing is, I never wielded it yet." Donny shook his head, adjusting the strap on his bag. "Remember what Emmeryn taught us? There might be a high price to pay if people without Forseti's blood in their veins try to use the spell."

"Do you have Forseti's blood then? You have the book and you have that ghost, right? Wouldn't that mean you have it?"

"That's what I'd like to know. I know my dad lived as a knight in service to the old king till his death, but he never told me about anything involving magic bloodlines." He felt a bitter taste in his mouth the moment he spoke of the old king, rolling his tongue around to try to get rid of it. "I guess I could ask my ma about it, but we won't be gettin' an answer anytime soon."

Reflet squinted, lurching forward and bringing her head to Donny's. "Hello Mr. Ghost, can you tell us if Donny's got the blood of Forseti?"

"Hehe, hey!" Donny moved his head away from her and her ticklish breath. "What are you trying to accomplish there?"

Reflet giggled. "I don't know. Maybe it could've worked."

"Well he ain't answering right now, I can say that. And keep quiet, else the others'll hear ya," he said, focusing on the small sand hill just up ahead. "That's enough about this, let's focus on something else so that others can't eavesdrop. What about Chrom? How's he holding up?"

"Chrom?" Reflet turned to the man a few yards ahead of them. He already reached the top of the sand hill, and now stood still as he checked out the area.

"Well, he's happier than he was when we left for Ferox, but he's still worried for Emmeryn." She furrowed her eyebrows, looking on as their friend had his eyes set for the Plegia capital.

"Hey!" Chrom suddenly shouted. "Over there!" He pointed up ahead, grabbing the attention of Donny, Reflet and the other Shepherds. Donny climbed up the sand hill and bent his knees, squinting at two people down below in the distance heading in their direction. People were chasing after them, kicking up a dust storm as they rushed their way.

"It looks like a girl and an old guy running away from a group of people," Donny said, his eyes widening once he caught a glimpse of the swords and lances in the hands of their assailants. "And I don't think that group wants to be friendly with them!" This looked just like the kind of stuff when bandits came to attack people in his village. They'd pick off stragglers, rush them down and then take their lives.

Chrom drew his sword from his sheath and raised it forwards. "Everyone, let's move out! Protect the girl and the man!"

"You heard him, move!" Frederick took the lance off his back and swirled it into both hands, rushing at the assailants together with Chrom.

"Right!" Donny said, jumping down the sand dune as he drew his bronze sword from his belt. He dashed towards the girl and the man, stopping just as the pair reached Chrom and Frederick.

"Who are you two?" Donny asked them.

"Get me away from that mean old man!" the girl said, still running as she pointed back at the old man.

"What? Gregor is not mean!" the old man said as he slowed down. He shifted into a sidestep before properly turning around, raising a steel blade of his own.

"You know what I mean! The other mean old man!" The girl stomped her boots, turning around to face the group chasing them. Donny raised a curious eyebrow before glancing at the enemies that had yet to arrive. They looked like any other group of bandits, though roughly a third of them looked to be some kind of mages in red or black robes.

"Whatever's happening between you two, we can deal with it later!" Chrom turned around just as the bulk of the Shepherds arrived. He swiped his sword over the sand, bringing it high into the air.

"We're outnumbered by about a half of our forces! Everyone, stick together and don't break from the pack! Anyone who can fight on their feet with a weapon, fight beside me! Everyone else, stay behind and take out their mages!"

They were given no time to spare once his orders were given. The Shepherds and the bandits rushed at each other, clashing blade with blade and lance with axe. Their own mages and archers formed a backline to provide cover fire, while their enemies spread themselves out amongst the desert to try to surround and swarm them.

It was only now that Donny realized how varied in abilities the Shepherds really were. Sure, there were people with the usual swords, lances, axes and bows, but then there were people like Vaike, who could start and win a swordfight with only his fists, and mages who could conjure magic from thin air. But they weren't even the strangest ones in the group. There was Lon'qu, who summoned clones to cut down a group of three bandits all at once, and Chrom himself, whose sword could light on fire at will and leap through the air.

Yet somehow, they were still able to get things done. Together they pushed the bandits back, taking out at least half of both the fighters and mages. Things weren't going as perfect as he initially thought, however. A dark mage from the corner of his eye fired off a spell, catching him completely off guard.

"Getting down now!"

The old man they'd saved suddenly tackled him at full force just before the spell reached them. The dark orb struck the ground, splashing black mist and black sand into the air. Donny wheezed as the weight of the man crashed into him as they landed, rolling on his side as the man got off of him.

Donny panted under his breath, pulling himself up before the enemy could fire off another spell. "What in Naga's name is that spell?"

"Gregor's seen this before, this is dark magicking!" the old man said, dusting his shirt.

"Dark magic?" Donny asked.

"Yes, if Gregor was not here, you might've been losing nerves in leg for today!" Gregor let out a loud laugh before putting on a serious face. "Stay near me, it is my job to protect people like you and small lady."

"That's some wild magic…" Donny's eyes widened, watching the mage prepare a second sphere of pure darkness. "Well, I gotta thank you for that," he said, readying his blade, "but I wanna be someone who can take care of others on my own!"

"Then you need much more experience in battle." Gregor lifted his blade, staring down the mage. "Ready yourself for dodging!"

The mage hurled their spell, though this time Donny had already seen it coming. The two of them dodged, jumping out of the blast radius before it could even come close to hurting them.

"How do we take them out from here?" Donny asked, flicking his head at Gregor while he prepared for the next attack. "We're too far away!"

"We don't!" Gregor answered back.

"What do you mean we don't?"

"Rely on allies!"

And just like that, an arrow fired into the mage's chest. The dark mage stumbled as soon as they were hit, crumpling to the ground before collapsing.

"See?" Gregor turned around to see an archer getting up from a crouched position, stringing another arrow and shooting another mage.

"Thank you!" Gregor said.

"Only the finest is acceptable from the archest of archers." Wayne smirked, flicking strands of his blue hair away from his face. "Now go, isn't there a girl that needs saving?"

Thanks to Wayne's efforts and those of the other mages, they turned the tide against the bandits. The mages fell back as their forces dwindled. Still, they continued hurling blast after blast of dark magic their way, keeping Donny and the Shepherds from getting any closer as their spells clashed with the Shepherd's own.

"Hey! Who said I needed saving?"

The girl from earlier rushed up behind Donny, punching the air twice upon reaching him.

Donny glanced back at her. "Why are you in the heat of things? You should be hiding!"

"I only said get me away from the mean old man, I didn't say I couldn't fight!" The girl put her hands on her hips and leaned forward, looking offended at the notion.

"Doesn't mean you should!" he fired back. "You don't even have a weapon!"

"Of course I do! I have the best weapon yet!" She lifted her arms and swung them down like claws, opening her mouth and making a loud chomp at the same time.

"Seriously?" Donny put a hand on his head and groaned. "Listen here, those aren't weapons at all! Stop playing around, you'll get yourself killed if you take a step further!"

"Raawrhg!" the girl growled loudly, stomping her boot in the sand. "Take me seriously! I'll show you how strong I am!" She pulled out a shiny, oval stone from her pocket, lifting it high above her head.

"Wait! Stop!" Gregor called out, reaching his hand out. "Don't be doing that!"

"No way!" The girl's stone started shining a bright light, growing and growing before quickly turning into a blinding flare. Donny shielded his eyes as the light enveloped the girl, covering them completely when the light grew too much to handle.

"What the—?" he said as the light cleared away. The girl was gone. He searched left and right, unable to find even a trace of the girl.

Then he heard the piercing screech from above. He brought his head up to see a golden beast soaring into the sky. It kept itself aloft with the two wings on its back, shining with scales of a myriad of luminescent yellows and greens. He watched in awe as the beast glanced down at the bandits below, who stopped firing at the Shepherds as they looked upon the beast in shock and fear.

"Dragon time!" The beast flapped its wings as it let out another screeching roar. It opened its maw as a light came forth from within. The beast fired at a crowd of bandits, hurling a giant ball of white flame. The flame surged downwards, exploding into the sand and blasting a cloud of sand into the air.

When the sand cleared up, a good chunk of those bandits caught in the blast were dead. Many others were screaming in terror, fleeing for their lives with severe injuries.

"No way…" Donny's sword nearly slipped from his hand as he looked on at the dragon up above. "That can't be the girl, right?"

Gregor put a hand on him, shaking him out of his trance. "It is not time for questions! We must hurry and finish this! Look!" He pointed forward at the remnant group of three dark mages and a swordfighter that refused to run away with the others. The dark mages set their sights on the dragon above, firing everything they had at it.

"Take her down!" one of the mages shouted, an old man in dark purple robes holding a wooden cane. "Our master demands that we take her back with us!"

He conjured forth a black sphere of darkness which shot straight towards the dragon, hitting one of its wings before it could fire again. The dragon howled, its wing going limp as it plummeted towards the ground in a rapid descent. With its only other wing, it swerved to the side just before it crashed, taking a massive slide through the sand before collapsing.

"No!" Gregor's eyes flared as he held tightly onto his blade. "Come on!" he said, patting Donny on the back before rushing at the remnants. Donny shook his head, chasing after him as he watched the old swordsman stab the swordfighter through the chest before slashing across that of a dark mage's.

"You will not stop us! We will have our return!" The old man let out a shout, bringing his cane forwards as another spell came forth. Gregor turned around and jumped out of the way with barely a second to spare, only to still be struck when the spell exploded upon the side of his leg. He cried out in pain, falling on his side as his leg gave way.

"Gregor!" Donny called out. He clenched his teeth, bringing his sword up as he locked eyes with the old man. "I'll show you! You're going to pay for hurting them!"

He charged at the old man, swinging his sword only to be blocked by the old man's cane. The old man let out a scoff, chuckling lowly under his breath.

"You are not a pawn in our master's plans, I'll see to it that you will fade from this world!" The man brought his cane upwards, pushing back against Donny's sword. Donny's eyes widened as the man's laugh devolved into a cackle loud with madness. Darkness pooled at the end of his cane, angled directly at Donny's rear foot.

_"Come on, get out of the way!"_

His leg lifted itself just before the spell fired off, contorting out of the way alongside the rest of his body. His free hand opened up as his body moved on its own, forming a green wind that trailed just underneath it.

"Arcwind!" Donny shouted, throwing his hand forward as he broke away from the clash.

A giant gust of wind blew forwards from his palm, blowing the old man away with enough force to lift him several feet into the air. A shockwave went through his hand as it raised itself upwards, shining with an intense flare as four blades of wind shot out from it. The blades bolted towards the man, swarming all around him as they delivered cuts to his entire body.

When the winds dissipated, the man fell to the floor with a slam, lying there on death's door. He pushed himself up with his shaking hands, letting out a loud cough. "You may have stopped our plans today, but mark my words! You fools do not even realize the end you've only managed to delay! It will come! He will rise again!"

He violently coughed once again, pointing his hand to the sky. "Master! I ask that you claim my life! Use it to feed your power, so that you may return one day and bring justice to these foolish heretics!"

With those parting words, a dark aura flickered around his entire body. He started disintegrating like a paper in a purple flame, until eventually there was nothing left of him, not even his clothes. Donny collapsed to his knees in exhaustion as he felt a sharp pain go all the way through his left arm. He brought it to his eyes to see it shaking, completely bloodied and cut as badly as the man he just killed.

He lifted his eyes up, glancing at the final mage standing. He stood still, gazing back at Donny with his jaw completely dropped before the rest of the Shepherds started to approach.

The last thing he saw was the mage sprinting away, his tail tucked between his legs.

Then he passed out.

* * *

When he woke up, he was in a bed in the infirmary tent, all alone. Donny held onto his head as he slipped out of bed, groaning from the lingering pain.

Donny raised his left arm to see it wrapped in white bandages, all the way down to his elbow.

_What happened?_ he thought to himself. The last thing he remembered was blasting that mage into the air and tearing him apart with that spell, Arcwind. It was the third tier of the Wind spell. He'd gotten better with magic to the point where he could cast basic spells with no effort, but he was still struggling with advancing to the second tier. Only now was he able to just barely cast an Elwind, the second tier spell, and it took far too much life energy from him to use it in a proper fight.

A mage needs to be careful when learning spells of higher-tiers, especially when skipping tiers.

Otherwise…

Donny rotated his bandaged-wrapped hand around, bandages which replaced the blood and covered the cuts that were fresh only moments ago. At least, moments ago according to his perception of time.

Still, even with these injuries, Donny stared at his hand with a sense of awe amidst the pain. The power within that spell was incredible. That he held that power hidden within him, he just couldn't believe it.

" _That's one thank you for me, then. Am I nice enough for you now?_ "

" _Huh? You're back?"_ Donny asked, hearing the ghost speak in his head once again.

" _I never really left, although I did stay quiet. I needed to figure out some stuff on my own, at least until I saw you in danger._ " The ghost raised Donny's right hand, waving it left and right at him lazily. " _It's been a while since I've taken control of a body like that._ "

" _So that really was you then,"_ Donny said. That explained why his body was moving on his own at least. _"How do you keep taking over my body, anyways?"_

" _Well, as the soul inhabiting a legendary book that has existed for what seems to be centuries now, it just so happens that I can take control of my wielders whenever necessary. It's gotten me out of at least one nasty jam before."_

" _I see, so how'd you cast that spell, then?"_ Donny asked. _"It's not like I could pull that off myself."_

_"Wind magic is my specialty, so casting something like that is like second nature to me. I could've went straight for the big blast if I wanted to, but I figured it'd be too much."_ The ghost used his hand to point to his backpack, where the Book of Forseti was tucked away. _"Still, I thought this body would be strong enough to handle a simple Arcwind, but I guess I miscalculated."_

" _It's your specialty, sure, but that doesn't explain much about how I pulled it off myself,"_ Donny said, shaking his head. " _It's still my body and not yours, and it looks like we're in two completely different skill brackets._ "

" _Right, I was getting to that. Because I'm so skilled with wind magic, I was able to tap into your lifeforce and fire off the spell from memory. More like muscle memory at this point. Unfortunately, your body hasn't been made to handle a tech like that, putting us in the position we're in now._ "

" _Seems so…_ " Donny looked at his bandaged hand one last time, lowering it back down. It was clear to him that he needed to train more, having seen a taste of what he could really do.

Reflet opened the tent flap of the infirmary, bringing it over her head as she entered. "Donny!" she called out once she laid eyes upon him. She raced towards him, hugging him around the waist.

"Heh-hey! Reflet!" Donny chuckled, gently pushing her away. "Easy now! I'm still woozy!"

Reflet brought her hands to her chest as she gave him a nervous frown. "You've been out for the entire afternoon! We were all worried sick!"

"The afternoon, huh? I must've been out for a while then," Donny said, scratching the back of his head. "What time is it, anyways?"

"Five o' clock," she answered. "It's been six hours since you collapsed outside."

"I see. I guess I'd better figure out what I've been missin' out on then." Donny went over to his backpack and slipped it around his arms, taking a look around the room. "Say, what happened to the girl and the old man?"

"Those two are with Chrom right now, we should check up on them."

"Seems good to me," he said. He shrugged his shoulders, getting ready to head out of the tent only to be stopped by a tug of his arm.

"Wait a second," Reflet said. "Before we go, I have something I need to give you." She grabbed the small brown satchel hanging from the side of her pants and held it with both her hands.

"Give this to the old man, okay?" She placed it within his own, pulling back afterwards.

"A bag?" Donny said. He furled his eyebrows, watching her nod along.

"He dropped it while we were fighting those bandits, when he got hit by that dark spell," Reflet said. "I figured that since you were fighting with him, it might be better if you gave it to him directly."

Donny curled his hand around the satchel, raising it up to his eyes. There was something inside it, hard and dense. Gold, maybe? But gold coins didn't feel nearly as big as whatever was in it. Not only that, but it also felt very warm. Hot, rather, but a very gentle kind of hot. It was like how it was at home during the freezing cold winters. His ma', pa' and grandparents would light up the hearth, and then they would all sit down together and eat whatever they had on them.

" _You feel it too, right? The heat? It's… strange. It's almost familiar… But why?_ "

"Why is it so hot?" Donny asked the two of them. "Feels like it might just kindly melt my hand off."

" _Beats me, I wanna know why myself._ "

"Maybe it's been out in the sun for too long?" Reflet offered, touching the bag herself. "Huh, you're right. It is very warm. What do you think is inside it?"

"I don't know, let's find out," Donny said.

" _Looks like we're on the same page for once_." The ghost in his head chuckled, giving what seemed like an invisible smirk.

"Open this for me, will ya?" Donny asked Reflet, tilting his head towards his injured hand.

"Sure." Reflet grabbed the small ribbon tying the satchel together and started untying it. The knot was surprisingly complex and intricate for such a small bag, but Reflet was able to pick it apart piece by piece.

"Almost…" Reflet said as she nearly undid the knot. But then, just as she was about to pull it apart so they could take a look inside, Gregor barged into the room, letting out a booming shout that left his ears ringing.

"Gregor came to visit!"

" _Crap!_ "

"Gahh!"

"Myaa!"

Donny and Reflet both leaped a foot into the air, making Gregor laugh. He put a hand on his head as his forehead started wrinkling up, before going wide eyed at the sight of the bag in Donny's hand.

"Ah! You two found my gold bag! Gregor has been looking since battle happened!" He immediately swiped it from his hands and redid the knot, stuffing it into his pocket.

" _Tch! That's just too lucky to not be on purpose!_ " The ghost growled at the old man. _"There's no way that gramps has just gold inside that thing. What's he hiding?"_

"You're up and running, yes?" Gregor said to Donny. "Is good! Your leader told me to come here for checking on you! He wants to see you now that you are wide and awake!"

"Err, uhh, yeah," Donny said, letting out a long breath as he took a step back. That was way too close a call for comfort. He wasn't planning on stealing from Gregor of course, but he also didn't want to get caught either. For a bag to have a knot like that meant that the owner probably didn't want people getting into the bag so easily.

"Let's go now, right Reflet?" he asked Reflet.

"Yep-yep!" Reflet nodded her head up and down, hurriedly leaving the tent. "I'm glad your bag is safe!"

"Hah-hah! Thank you!" Gregor gave Donny a quick pat on the back. "Come, let's be like second tiny lady and rush over to boss!"

"Boss?" Donny would've asked what he'd meant, but by then he was already out of the tent and on his way. He followed after the two, being led to the outside of the meeting tent where Chrom and the girl from before stood in the sand.

"Oh good, so you're finally awake," Chrom said. "We were all starting to get worried."

"Sir, what's goin' on?" Donny asked Chrom.

"You ended up missing out on a lot after the battle was over, so I'm here to fill you in," he said, pointing a hand to the girl and the old man. "First, I'd like to introduce you to our two newest Shepherds. Meet Nowi and Gregor."

"Wait, those two are gonna be joining us?" Donny asked as he turned to look at the pair. It wasn't until now that he got the chance to properly take a look at them. The girl was just about Liz's height, and had long, blonde hair flowing wildly down her back, shifting into deep green highlights at the ends. A light pink dress covered her chest, with pink shorts to match alongside a purple hood, gloves and boots.

And on the other end was Gregor. For an old man, he sure didn't look that old. He was well-built for starters, being clearly muscular underneath his simple brown tunic. A green, well-worn shield strapped itself around his left arm, with a deep claw mark etched into the middle of it. On top of all that, his hair, short and somewhat spikey, was a lively red-brown instead of the expected silvers and grays.

They were probably the oddest pair he'd seen yet. An old man and a young girl out in the middle of nowhere running away from a group of bandits. One of which could turn into a dragon, of all things.

"Gregor needs work and to protect little lady, little lady needs allies, and Boss needs fighters for warring effort." Gregor chuckled. "It's win-win situation, no?"

"Right," Chrom said. "We were discussing their situation earlier and we realized that we both could benefit by fighting alongside each other. Gregor is an experienced swordsman who's fought for many years, and Nowi is…" Chrom raised his eyebrows. "I mean, I'm not the only one who saw her turn into a dragon, right?"

"Yeah, you aren't," Donny said, looking at Nowi. "That golden dragon up there, that had to be you, right?" He scratched the back of his head as he made a big shake left and right. "I still can't believe that was you up there."

"Me neither," Chrom said, putting his hand on his head. "I know shapeshifters exist out there, but it's still incredible to see people do that in person."

"Yep! I'm one hundred-percent full- blown Manakete!" Nowi bounced excitedly, swinging her hands down and making loud bites like she did in the morning. "Chomp-chomp!"

She flashed Donny a playful grin, putting a hand on her hip in a very sassy manner. "See? I told you I could fight, but you wanted to be a Mr. Meanie-Pants and say no."

"I suppose you can," Donny said, weakly chuckling. "My mistake for thinking you couldn't, but to be fair, it's not like you look like a fighter at all."

Nowi crossed her arms and let out a huff in response. "Well I'm happy to prove you wrong!"

"Excuse me, but what exactly is a Manakete?" Reflet asked.

"Allow Gregor to explain, he knows Manaketes well," Gregor answered, clearing his throat. "Manaketes are kinds of dragons which have power to let them turn into humans. They use gems known as dragonstones that let them unleash their full dragon powers."

"Look!" Nowi pulled out the stone from her pocket and proudly stretched her hand out. "This is my dragonstone, isn't it pretty?"

"Ooh!" Reflet went close to Nowi and grabbed the dragonstone from her. "It's shiny!"

"Woah, that might be the second prettiest stone I've ever laid eyes on," Donny said, getting closer to the two of them as he grabbed the brilliant stone for himself. Up close he could see for himself that it was a gem with a light-blue color so vivid it almost seemed like it might've been alive. It even looked like a faint light shone from the inside.

"Second prettiest?" Nowi barked, snatching the stone out of his hands. "No way, what could be prettier than this?"

"I've got a stone myself that's even prettier than the one you got," he said with a grin.

"Liar. You're lying," she said, the clear disgust leaving her growl only serving to make Donny chuckle again.

"Heh, then how 'bout I prove it to you?" he offered with a grin. "Meet me at lunch time, then we can find out for real who has the best stone out there. "

Nowi punched her fists together twice. "You're on, farm boy."

"Looks like lady and boy are getting along well," Gregor said, chuckling. "Good, she will need more people than Gregor protecting her."

"I can protect myself, you know," Nowi said, shooting Gregor a look. "I took down like half of them in one shot."

"Gregor has no doubts, but we both know attackers won't be playing fair," Gregor said. "What if kidnappers come in middle of night when we are all sleeping? What if they come with Wyrmslayers? Or they steal your dragonstone away from you so you cannot fight?"

"Hold on, those guys kidnapped you?" Donny asked.

"Yeah, they did. And I wish I knew why," Nowi said. The happy playfulness she had before dropped itself, replaced by a frown and a tight fist.

"Gregor found her in the hands of the Grimleal," Gregor said. He shook his head, turning to the sands where their battle occurred. "Those men chasing them were some of the most evil men out there. They kidnap poor souls, robbing them away from their friends and families without a care as to who they are. I heard rumors of Grimleal members going so far as to break into homes to steal children away from their parents, and looking at what we just witnessed, I have every reason to believe they're true."

"That's horrible! What would bring a person to do those things?" Donny said. "Why are the Grimleal doing this? What do they want?"

"Gregor is not sure, but he has suspicions. The Grimleal might be making offerings to their god."

"Their god?" Reflet asked.

"Grima, the Fell Dragon," Gregor answered. "He appeared two hundred years ago, threatening to erase the world as we've known it. He laid waste to not only Archanea but to our sibling continent, Valentia, in an event that would come to be known as the Schism."

"Before Ylisse came to be," Chrom added, "two grand countries as big as their continents existed: The Unified Archanean League and the One Kingdom of Valentia. But neither managed to last more than twenty years, and it was all thanks to that demon. The two countries collapsed from the thousands of deaths claimed by the Fell Dragon's rampage, and new countries and factions formed in the wake of them. Ylisse, Plegia and Ferox are just three of those countries, and there are others in Valentia.

Reflet crossed her arms. "So this Fell Dragon destroyed these old countries, and that's why Ylisse and the others exist…"

Chrom nodded. "It took many heroes to defeat him, from not only Archanea and Valentia but from other lands, as well. The descendants of the Twelve Crusaders came from Jugdral to aid in defeating the Fell Dragon, leaving behind their weapons with their deaths. Some claim that a Radiant Hero from an entirely different continent fought alongside them, though records of said hero are far and few between. They aren't the only ones who came, either. Plenty of other heroes fought with their lives on the line to take down that Fell God, with many giving them up for the sake of the world."

"Grima's death left a big mark on the world, one that still hasn't fully healed," Gregor continued. "There are those who follow him, still seeking his return. But the Grimleal are a stealthy bunch, who slither in the darkness and work from the shadows of these Plegian deserts. What they do with the people they kidnap, I know not and have no proof. But whatever it is, it must be something done in aid of their god."

"Whatever they're doing, we can't let it keep happening!" Donny said, raising his right fist. "This is horrible! What kind of god thinks kidnapping people is a good thing?"

" _A bastard and a half of a 'god' if you ask me,_ " the ghost in his head said. " _Grima can rot in an eternal hell for what he's done._ "

"You're right on that, that's why we've taken on another mission," Chrom said to Donny. "Nowi will come under the protection of the Shepherds. That way, if something were to happen to her again, we'll be the first to know and respond."

Nowi brought her hands together and over her head, placing them down as she started rubbing her hair. "You were right, Gramps. Sticking with these guys is probably our best shot at getting out of this place."

"The Grimleal should have scattered by now," Gregor said, looking back at the site of the battle. "That old man was their leader, and with his death we should be safe for another day."

He turned back to Chrom. "You all are travelling to the Plegian capital, Doluna, yes? In order to end the war that began not long ago? Then we will play our parts so that this war may end swiftly."

"Thank you, both of you," Chrom said, bowing to them before turning around. "Come on, let's go inside the mess tent."

Gregor bowed back, taking off with Chrom and the others. Donny lingered however, staring at the spot where the dark mage fell. There was not even so much as a trace of the mage, not a drop of blood or even a strand of hair, nothing. It was as if he never existed.

Yet his words echoed in Donny's head, never leaving him.

_It will come! He will rise again!_

"Donny, you coming?" Reflet asked, coming back his way and tapping his elbow.

"...Yeah," he said, heading with her back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, author here! I've got some sad news, I might have to slow down and produce shorter chapters now that school is starting this week. But I still intend to finish the arc! I do need to prioritize school, though, so we may see more infrequent posting, sorry!
> 
> Remember to join the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord if you like fics like this one and want to find more of them! Link: /9XG3U7a


	18. * Smells Like Dragon

_April 5th,_

Donny sat down at the table in front of him, sipping spoonfuls of today's carrot soup as the Shepherds entered shouting matches with one another. Vaike got himself into another argument with Lon'qu, demanding a rematch since what happened at the Earth King's Tournament. And he could hear a group of Gregor, Wayne, Sully and Sol in a rather heated game of cards in the table behind him.

But he hardly paid any attention to it. Instead, he was stuck in his thoughts, glancing down at his damaged arm every so often.

" _Feeling okay?_ " the ghost in his mind said.

" _Little bit, but I'm still stuck on some things, like what that man—that Grimleal member—said yesterday._ " Donny shrugged his shoulders. " _Is it true that their god's going to rise again?_ "

" _Hard to say, considering their god is rising every lunch hour. Still, knowing how evil dragons work, I can't exactly leave it out of the equation that they won't try to rise again and slaughter us all."_

"Y _ou've seen the evil dragons before?_ "

" _Oh sure. I've gone up against them a handful of times. Grima, Loptyr, Loptyr again. The one thing they seem to all share is that they don't like to stay down. If you kill them once, they'll keep trying to find ways to come back to life."_

" _So they can just bring themselves to life if they die?_ " He didn't like the sound of that. He may have not been around to see him, but the story he learned about Grima was enough to paint the kind of threat he was.

" _I'm not quite sure on the exact mechanics,"_ the ghost said, and once again, Donny could feel him darting his nonexistent eyes to the floor as he trailed his breath off. _"You might have to ask someone else for that… But I do have a decent grasp on what you need to get a resurrection going. The 'how of it', not the why._ "

" _How's it work then?_ " he asked, putting his hand on his head as he poured over the thought of another evil dragon attacking the earth once again.

" _I'd tell you right now, but looks like a small reptile wants your attention._ "

" _Huh?_ " Donny said. The ghost tapped him on the shoulder, making him bring his chin up.

"What's bugging you?" someone said, as if on cue. Donny lifted his head all the way to find Nowi staring at him with bored eyes and cheeks smushed between her hands.

"You look like you've got something bugging you," she said, letting a hand droop under the table. "And are you gonna show me your rock yet? Come on, you said you'd show it already so I could prove you wrong!"

"Uhh…" Donny said, bringing himself up to speed with the real world. He rubbed his palm upon the hairs of his forehead, lightly chuckling despite his anxiousness. "Those weren't my exact words, but I guess I could go get it for you now."

"Do it," she said, crossing her arms and squinting him down. He could only roll his eyes as he left to find his tent, quietly laughing along the way.

Despite the initial shock and awe, Nowi seemed more human than dragon. Was she a human first and then a dragon? Or the other way around?

" _Tough question,_ " the ghost said. " _The original and older dragons used to be dragons first, but then we started losing control of our powers for some reason way back when. Degeneration, we called it. To stop that we had to seal our powers and our dragon forms to keep ourselves from rampaging wildly, becoming Manaketes. Since then, we've lived as humans for most of our lives, living in seclusion or trying to integrate into society. So… I guess both in a way. Maybe it's a philosophical thing, I don't know._ "

" _Is that so, huh?_ " Donny thought as he entered his tent, looking around the room as he lingered on the ghost's words. " _Hmm_ , _come to think of it, you sure know a lot about dragons. Plus, you just said 'we' right now. Now why exactly is that?_ "

" _Well, that's uhh, umm._ "

Now it seemed like the ghost was scratching his hair and tilting his head away. More than that, Donny could tell the color of his hair too. Green. A vivid green, deep yet shiny like emerald. And his eyes were green too, same as his hair.

" _Hey, is something happening to you?"_ Donny asked him, reaching his hand out. " _I can like… feel you now. Back then you were just in my head, but now it actually feels like you're right next to me._ "

" _Am I?_ " he said. " _It's been so long since I've been in someone's body that I kind of forgot what that's like._ "

All of a sudden the ghost let out a loud groan, grasping his head. A translucent, dark mist coalesced right next to Donny, expanding to his size or an inch or two more.

" _Woah!_ " Donny said, his eyes flaring. " _What's happening to you?_ "

"Ghh—! _"_ The ghost reeled back as the mist took shape, solidifying together all at once. The remaining mist vanished like smoke in the wind, leaving behind an exhausted shadow of a man, literally. He slumped over, holding onto Donny's shoulder to keep himself on his feet.

"Hold on! What's going on? Are you okay? Is that you?" Donny's mind raced as he helped the ghost to the ground, trying to help him recover. The ghost took deep breaths as he took a hand off his head, lifting his head up with a loud sigh. He groaned again, leaning his head on the tent wall as he tried to catch his breath. Then after a few moments he let go of his head with his other hand, bringing it down to the bedroll beneath them.

"Okay, dear Naga," the ghost grunted, letting out one last breath before he sucked it all back in. "Sweet Naga that was the worst headache in my life."

"What happened to you right there?" Donny asked. "What's happening to you right now?"

"I don't know," he said with a shake of his head. "Can't remember everything after two-hundred years of advanced social distancing." The ghost coughed into his hand before dry retching into it, pushing air back down his throat. "Do you think if I T-pose the pain will stop?"

He brought his hand to his eyes, running them up and down every inch of his new, shadow-like body. He moved his fingers around, going wide-eyed as he clenched and unclenched them.

"Woah, this is new," the ghost said. He grabbed his wrist, shaking it up and down. Then he brought his finger over to Donny, poking him in the cheek as Donny reflexed backwards.

"So I can touch you now? Strange, and can I…?" He grabbed the bottom of the bedroll and plucked it up, letting it fall back down.

"So it isn't just you that I can touch, either."

"This is strange," Donny said. "Everything since we first met's been strange. And you don't know what's going on, either?"

"Not a clue," the ghost said, only now he spoke with an actual mouth, no longer just a voice in his mind. "I've only ever shared heads with one other person in a last resort to keep us both alive. And even then, this was definitely not the method I used, at least I don't think it is. I'm just as confused as you here."

The ghost got on his feet and pushed the edges of the flap entrance apart, peeking his head around the outside. "Do you think people will notice me if I walk around? I'd better wear a hood or something so no one freaks out if so. Pass me one, please?"

"Sure." Donny went over to his bag and pulled out his spare brown cloak, tossing it over to the ghost. Reaching back inside, he took out the stone his dad gave him, having kept it in a small box for safety.

"And I got my dad's stone," he said. "Come on, let's head back to Nowi, she's waitin' on us."

He got back on his feet, leaving out the tent.

"Right." The ghost put on his hood, following after him towards the mess tent.

But when they got back, it was even worse than when Donny'd left it. A crowd had gathered around the cards-playing group, whose bets stacked higher and higher as the game turned heated. Vaike and Lon'qu's arguing reached the point where they were now arm wrestling one another, trying to beat out the other when they could not do so with weapons. And to cap things off, now Nowi bickered back and forth with Ricken, already at each other's throats.

"I'm just gonna…" the ghost whispered as he walked backwards, avoiding the center of attention. "Just gonna stand here."

"What the heck's your deal?" Nowi said. She got out of her seat, moving out of the way of the finger pointing at her.

"You mean to tell me that Chrom, the 'Chrom Lowell the Prince of Ylisse,' let this, this _child_ into the Shepherds just like that?" Ricken whipped around, pointing at Chrom who sat at the table next to him.

"Ah—" Chrom stopped eating his soup, his spoon held right in front of his mouth. "Umm," he gasped out, looking Ricken in the eyes. "Well, I mean, this is a very special case. You see, she's a Manakete."

"Bullshit," Ricken said. "I had to go through hell and back to get you to make me an official member!"

"And who are you calling a child, you little shit?" Nowi fired back, surprising Donny. "I'm like a hundred-years old or something!"

"Err, what?" Donny said, pointing at Nowi as his mouth dropped. "Come again? You're a hundred?"

"Manaketes live longer than humans do, or so I'm told by Gregor," Chrom said. "They also age slower physically." He put down his spoon, heading over to them. "I'm serious though, Ricken. With the Grimleal hunting her down, we can't just abandon her to the desert on her own."

"Hahah! See?" Nowi stuck her nose up at Ricken, blowing him a raspberry. "Sucks to be you!"

Ricken looked back at her as he crossed his arms. "Fine, I'll yield. But I got my eye on you both." He flicked two of his fingers back and forth at them, taking his seat at the table.

Donny sat himself down, letting out a long breath. Was Nowi really older than them? She hardly looked anything older than a teenager to him.

But she was still a dragon. That he knew to be true. And with what he learned earlier, the fact that Manaketes had longer lives seemed believable. Especially with what he learned earlier. Now he had suspicions about the ghost's true nature.

"Hey Donny, show the stone already!" Nowi said. "You got it, right?"

"A stone?" Ricken asked.

"Can we see?" Chrom said, taking his seat.

"Oh, right," Donny said. "Guess I got a little bit distracted by the arguing."

He reached for his box, bringing his hand forward to show it off to everyone. "Here it is!" he said as he opened the black box, uncovering the mesmerizing crystal he received on his birthday. Unlike Nowi's smooth, oval gem, his was a cluster of them, circling around to form a bracelet-sized ring. Its deep, translucent green darkened at the base into a black, giving the stone a beautiful gradient. Five small, white streaks wrapped across the inside of the midsection like lines of a musical staff a pianist would dot their music notes upon, completing the gem.

"Wow, that really is pretty." Nowi took it from him, bringing it to her eyes as she found herself captivated by the stone. Donny chuckled in satisfaction as her eyes dropped to his, meeting them as she made a flustered grunt.

"Prettier than yours, one might say?" Donny asked.

"Hmph," she said, turning away from him. "Whoever says that is a liar."

"Heh, whatever you say." With a smug grin, he took her expression as an admission of defeat.

"What kind of stone is this?" Chrom asked, leaning forward to get a closer look.

"Yeah," Ricken said. "I've never seen this one in the alchemy labs. Miriel would have a field day figuring it out."

"I'm not quite sure myself. My dad never knew either." Donny took the stone back and held it up high. "He always loved rocks and such, had a collection of them. But out of all of them, this one was his favorite. Said it was mystical or something, he'd tell me all the time about how a rock like this had to have a hidden power."

He ran his gaze along the staff inside the stone, shifting it around left and right. "Didn't quite know what he meant back then, but I guess I kind of believe him. It sure looks like a kind of stone to have a power inside it. You can even hear it sing sometimes."

"I've never heard of a singing rock before." Chrom crossed his arms. "How does it work?"

"Well, whenever a breeze gets strong enough, the stone'll hum just like it's singin'," he said. He squinted at the stone, shaking it lightly.

"Hmm, can you hold this for a second?" he asked Chrom, flicking his wrist towards his arm wrapped in bandages.

"Sure," Chrom said.

"Thanks." Donny gave the ring of rocks to him and lifted his free hand up, casting forth a harmless yet forceful wind gust. A soft hum rang from the center of the ring, filling his ears with its melody.

"Huh, that's pretty cool," Chrom said, raising his eyebrows.

"Hey, wait a second." The ghost got up from his seat at the edge of the room, slipping through the tables and crowds. He leaned over Chrom's shoulder, looking closely at the stone in his hands. "Kid, you said your dad gave this to you? How'd he get his hands on it?"

"Huh?" Donny said, giving him a confused look. But before he could reply, Nowi started sniffing the air, darting her head all around the room.

"Hey, does anyone else smell dragon?" Nowi asked.

"Shit!" The ghost flinched, jolting backwards. Donny's eyes went wide as he looked at Nowi, biting down on his finger.

"You can smell dragon?" Chrom said, scratching his head.

"I swear I smell dragon in here, and not me," Nowi said. "In fact I've been smelling dragon for a while now."

"Well why can't I smell it then?" Ricken questioned.

"Yeah, I can't smell it either." Chrom lifted his head, taking a whiff of the air. "Nope."

"It's definitely there. Like, heeere." Nowi leaned out of her seat and waved in the general direction of the green-haired silhouette. The others turned their heads, staring at the startled deer backing away from them.

"But there's nothing there though," Chrom said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I know, but I smell it!" Nowi placed both hands on her head, letting out a low growl. "What's going on here?"

Donny quit biting down on his finger, looking over to the ghost. This wasn't good, and if he were to speak out loud then he'd risk Nowi catching on.

He raised his right hand and put it on his head. " _Can you still hear me like this?_ " he thought, trying to communicate with the ghost through his mind.

"Yep!" the ghost said aloud, nodding at him. And even though he was speaking through his mouth, it didn't seem like anyone took note of it.

" _Doesn't look like they can see you or hear you whenever you speak,_ " Donny thought. Good, then at least it'd be harder for either of them to get caught. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain that a ghost was following him or that he was carrying around the Book of Forseti.

" _Look, now's the time to run out of here while you can_ ," he continued. " _I'll try to keep the attention on me so that Nowi forgets about you, okay?_ "

"Sounds like a solid plan!" The ghost said as he made a run for the exit, leaving him to clean up the mess.

"So you can smell dragon? What does it smell like?" Donny asked Nowi, shifting the topic.

"It's very weird," Nowi said, lifting her head up. "It doesn't really smell like anything, but it smells like something is there, like I can feel it. Dragons have pretty strong noses, so maybe that's why I can smell it while you all can't?" She sniffed the air again. "But now the smell's gone. It's like it just walked right in and ran right out."

"Yeah, uhh, I guess I can't really imagine why." Donny laughed nervously, biting his lip. "Who knows? Maybe we should stop worrying about it for now, wait and see if it'll come back again."

"You might be right, still, I'm one hundred percent sure I smelled someone." Nowi shrugged, returning to her lunch. Donny was glad that was over. Had she gotten up or tried looking for the ghost, things might have fallen apart.

But now he was left to his thoughts, and with a suspicion that never left his head since it entered. There was no doubt that there was more to the ghost than just being an ordinary ghost, if you could ever call a ghost ordinary. With his knowledge of Manaketes and ancient dragons, his new seemingly physical human form and the fact Nowi outright called him a dragon, it seemed like all pieces pointed to him being one himself.

When next he had the chance, he'd confront him on the matter.

"Well, I do have to go now," Chrom said, getting out of his seat. "I gotta make preparations while Reflet gets back."

"Wait, Reflet's missing?" Donny asked. No wonder he didn't see her at all today.

"Yeah, she's out on a mission right now. She should be reaching the Plegian capital soon, in fact," he said.

"The capital? Is she going out there alone? Will she be safe?"

"Well, she's not exactly alone, it's more like this…"

* * *

A city stood within the desert, one she couldn't take her eyes from. Up ahead, where the road passed through a river, was a city of sandstone. The road climbed along the rocky formation which the city built itself around, stretching high up as an inner ring of sandstone wall lined the plateau. Three towers built behind the wall rose high through the air, and scraped the sky with their pointed, curved roofs as they watched the world below.

But that had yet to be all she'd seen. The road winded and continued into a third and final ring where a castle of black stone stood. A single tower that looked to be built into the castle rose higher than the others, trimmed along each edge of its purple roof with a gold that the other towers lacked and had to replace with silver.

Standing there, guarded and fortified, was the complete opposite of the brilliant light that was the Iris Palace.

And there Reflet stood, watching the fortressed city rise above her.

"That's Doluna?" she asked.

"The one and only," Gaius said. He slipped his fingers into one of his sleeves and pulled out a lollipop, putting it in his mouth. "It's a sight to see, even if it's a pain in the ass to get to."

"We are not here to gaze at architecture as if we have all the time in the world," Panne said. "We have a mission to accomplish, move."

"Sure thing, let's go," Gaius said, gesturing for them to head out as he slipped his cloak over his head and jogged to the entrance. Reflet pulled down on the hood of her cloak, following after him.

As they made their way deeper into the heart of the outer ring, crowds of people formed and wandered around just the same as the other cities she'd been to. Faces everywhere, all peaceful looking, minding their own business as if there wasn't anything to worry about.

It was hard to believe that this is the country they're going to war against.

"Alright Reflet," Gaius said as he slowed down, staring at the walls of the inner city right above them. "What's the point of this job, anyways?"

Reflet crossed her arms, shutting her eyes as she pressed her finger upon her cheek. She'd been planning this out with Chrom since before they started crossing the desert, and now was the time to put everything into action whether she was ready or not.

"We need a hideout," she said. "That's the first thing we need to figure out. We'll need to be able to quickly respond to whatever Gangrel's planning, and we can't do that effectively if we have to cross the desert everyday."

"Oh, that's all?" Gaius huffed from his nose. "That's easy, I know a guy. He runs an inn down here in the Dust Ring. He owes me one, so I guess it's time to cash in."

"The Dust Ring?" Reflet asked. "What's that?"

"See this little place we're in? Take a look around you." Gaius brought her close as he sweeped a hand over all the buildings around them. Wood, sand and stone buildings where people of all sorts gathered. Many of them slung pickaxes over their shoulders or kept them harnessed on their belts, handing off gold coins and even gold chunks to others in exchange for bags of food and newer, shinier picks.

"Miners, traders, and blacksmiths?" she said.

"The kind of people that go home with dust all over them. Dust from sand, dust from work, you name it." He pointed up to the road beyond the wall where more buildings laid, fancier ones. "Now, the Silver Ring is where you'll find all the wealthy nobles, and merchants," he said, snickering to himself. "It's also how I make bank. So many fools up there with so much money that they don't even know what to spend it on."

"What about the last ring?" she asked. "The one at the top?"

"We call that the Black Ring." Gaius brought his hand higher, pointing to the castle itself. "And up there is the Black Rose Castle, which I'm pretty sure you've figured out who lives there."

"Gangrel," she figured.

"Good job," he said, patting her on the shoulder. "So, what's next on the list then? That can't be the only thing, right?"

"You're right," she said. "The castle must be where Emmeryn is. We need to check the layout of the castle and the surrounding area so we can figure out where exactly we need to be when we pull off the rescue."

She turned to Panne. "Panne, can you go and scout outside the castle?"

"If that is my job, then so be it, I have no complaints." With a nod of her head, Panne took off for the castle, making her way up the road.

"Why'd you pick Whiskers for this, anyways?" Gaius shrugged his shoulders. "Odd pick if you ask me."

"Whiskers?" Reflet asked with a furl of her eyebrows.

"Just a little nickname for her. I give one to everyone," he clarified. "The four marks on her face look like rabbit whiskers, don't they?"

He drew an upside down L upon his cheeks with his fingers before making smaller ones underneath them. Reflet took a look at Panne as she took off, focusing on the two lines along the cheek that she still could see from where she stood.

"I guess they kind of do," she said, tilting her head. "As for why I picked her though, I thought about it and remembered that she was able to infiltrate the assassin group that came after Emmeryn, so she must have some skill for this kind of stuff."

Actually, that wasn't the only thing she picked Panne for. In truth, she also wanted to find out more about the assassins in question. How did she get involved with them? Did she know who they were? She'd have asked earlier, but Panne wasn't the easiest person to approach.

"Ah, yeah that makes sense," Gaius said. "Well come on, let's go find that guy." He led her away from the road and into the shady back alleys of the Ring.

"You should be a bit careful if you ever find yourself in these parts alone," he said as they left the hot sun's sightline. "You'll find all sorts of folks that you'd probably wouldn't want to meet. Muggers, most of them, so keep a weapon on you."

Reflet nodded, lowering her hand and bringing forth a small lash of wind that died as soon as it came. She did have wind magic as an option, although maybe she could use Flash instead to stun them without hurting them. Or Bind to hold them in place, if she was ever able to learn it. She'd have her dagger too as a last resort, or she would if she hadn't given it back to her at Ferox.

"We're here," Gaius said once they arrived at a large, dark building tucked away behind all the others in this section of the city.

"Wait while I set everything up, 'kay?" Gaius flicked his hand over to the other side of the street where the crowds gathered once more. "Go over there, less trouble in the main streets." He climbed up the steps of the building, knocking on the door before heading inside.

Reflet did as she was told, getting out of the alleyway and watching the entrance from afar. Gaius didn't seem like he was getting out anytime soon. She crouched down as minutes turned into more minutes, letting a yawn escape her throat in her boredom.

How long was he going to keep her here?

She grumbled, rolling her eyes when something black caught her attention in their corners. She hopped to the side, finding a single black crow shifting its head around. Curious, she got up from her seat to sit beside it, watching the small black bird walk in circles on its two, tiny legs. It flapped its wings, letting out a caw as a second crow flew down beside it. Reflet giggled, admiring the two birds when a third flew over and accompanied them.

"Hey!"

"Huh?" Reflet looked towards the voice calling out. She got off her feet, staring at a boy a few meters ahead surrounded by more crows.

"Looks like there's a lot of them today!" the boy said as he stopped the cart he was pushing. "You guys must be excited!"

"Woah, you've got a lot of crows around you," she said as she moved closer to the boy. More and more crows showed up, either gathering at his feet or flying around him. Many of them flew up onto his arms, perching themselves as they noisily cawed to one another.

"Sure do! Friendly little peeps, if only they didn't caws so much trouble!" He laughed to himself as a bird swooped down and landed on his head, sitting itself neatly atop of him. She'd never seen this many crows in one place, or on a person, for that matter.

"What's going on here?" Gaius said, narrowing his eyes as soon as he arrived to see the flock that swarmed the boy.

"Just a little murder party!" The boy laughed again as another bird perched on his silver-white hair. He raised his finger up, giving a cheeky grin. "Now, don't go callin' the cawps on me! I can assure you that this is a peaceful gathering with no sorts of cawnflicts or cawntraband!"

"I see, so why are there so many crows around you?" Gaius questioned.

"Ah, sorry, gimme a moment!" The boy lifted his arms up and started making large flaps as if he were a bird himself.

"Caw-caw! Caw-caw caw-caw!"

Immediately the crows flew off of him and took for the buildings, leaving the boy covered in a rain of black feathers. Reflet giggled, amused by the feathery boy.

"Sorry about that! Animals just seem to love being around me!" The boy wiped the feathers off him, revealing what he looked like underneath the cloud of birds. His skin was as pale as a ghost's. Though his eyes seemed as if they were held shut, Reflet could see the hidden silver and white behind them.

"So tell us, crow boy," Gaius said, scratching his chin as he cupped it with his hand. "Who are you and what exactly brought you here?"

"You can call me Henry!" the boy said. "And I figured I'd eat these on my day off! Wanna try one?"

He opened the hatch of his cart and rolled his black, puffy sleeve, sticking his hand inside it. Icy white vapors poured out of the hatch, and within moments Henry presented them two vibrant, red and yellow sticks of ice with wood toothpicks on one end.

"What's this?" Reflet took the sticks from him, rotating the clear yellow stick. "Ice?"

"That's ice cream, Reflet," Gaius answered. "A popsicle, really."

"Yep! Today I got a lucky pineapple and a batch of cherries," Henry said. "So then I asked myself, what's better than freezing the stuff? Nothing, that's what! Nyeh-heh!"

Gaius took the red stick for himself, holding it up to his squinted eyes. "So, how'd you get this stuff anyways?"

"Simple!" Henry answered. "I used ice magic to do it!"

"Oh really now?" Gaius flipped his ice cream around, pointing the tip at Henry. "That's interesting for sure."

"Yep-Yep!" Henry said. "Plegian school of sorcery, third year. Fourth and a half actually, but I had to take a gap year thanks to the cawronavirus. Actually, it was because of a really terrible accident involving a needle, my arm and some other person's arm. Don't know who that arm belonged to, though. At least they lent me a hand!"

"You were in an accident?" Reflet asked, knitting her brows.

"Hang on," Gaius said as he nearly dropped his stick. "What did you just say?"

"Yeah, you should've seen how bad it was!" he said. "There was blood everywhere! On the floors, on the walls! Even on my pet cactus! Took like, three nurses to patch me up! Heheh!"

"Oh dear, that sounds terrible. You're okay now though, right?" Reflet now felt worried over the boy's health. What did he do that made him lose so much blood?

"You say that so casually that it's almost scary," Gaius said.

"Probably!" Henry said with a smile. "Anyways, I got better! My point is that ice magic comes super naturally to me! Pretty much any and all magic is easy stuff!"

"I see," Gaius said, taking a few steps back. "Well, thanks for the ice cream, but we oughta get goin'."

"Wait! Don't leave me yet, your icy pops are melting!" Henry stretched his hand out and blew a small, cold mist from his palm, refreezing their ice cream.

"There you go, that'll keep it from melting too quickly," he said. "But come on! You don't wanna waste free ice cream now, do you?"

"I guess I can't say no to free sugar." Gaius bit down on the popsicle, nodding his head in approval. "This is good," he said, taking the popsicle out of his mouth. "Reflet, try yours."

Reflet gave her snack a tiny lick before chomping down on it, squealing as its chill and sweetness washed over her tongue. The treat was so delectable after running around in the sun for so long. She scarfed the rest, adoring the frozen treat.

"Can I have another please?" Reflet licked her lips, ever eager for more.

"Sure thing!" Henry gave her another popsicle, this time one of the red ones. After devouring the frozen juice, he handed her a third one which she proceeded to burn through as quick as the others.

"Wow, she really likes ice cream, doesn't she?" Gaius said, cracking a wily grin.

"Yay, more people to share it with!" Henry pulled out three more ice creams from his cart, splitting them between Gaius, Reflet and himself.

"These are my last ones, here you go!"

"Yay!" Reflet snatched her fourth refill, breaking off and swallowing a large chunk of ice. She pulled the last piece off the pick, letting it dissolve in her mouth to savor the remnants.

"Thank you," she drawled, gushing over the taste at the same time.

"Sure! Anything for a new friend!" Henry put his cold hand on Reflet's shoulder, letting out a light laugh. Were his hands still cold from the ice magic? Sometimes when she'd cast wind spells it seemed as if she could still feel it in her palm. Perhaps the same thing happened with him.

Though it didn't bother Reflet too much, not enough for her to take issue with it.

Henry lifted his arm, checking it as if there was something to look at. "Oh! Looks like it's time for me to make like a rabbit and leave!" He spun around and took off for the Silver Ring, waving as he ran away from them.

"Bye, friends!" Henry said. "I gotta be outta here or Musmama will have my hare!"

"Bye-bye!" Reflet waved back at him as he turned the corner, disappearing from her sight. "He seems nice and friendly, don't you think? And it was really sweet of him to give us so much to eat for free!"

"Nice and friendly? Sure, the guy's got it in spades, but…" Gaius plucked the black sash that wrapped itself around his black sleeve. "Something about that guy rubs me the wrong way…"

"The wrong way? What do you mean?"

"I can't say for sure what exactly it is." Gaius twirled his toothpick before biting down on it. "Yeah, the ice cream was nice, but from the start I was getting a bad read on him. Didn't want to tip him off or anything, so I tried to play it chill. I feel like I'm missing something, though…"

"A bad read?" Was there something about Henry that made Gaius feel off? If so, Reflet couldn't tell. Though before she could ask to elaborate, a set of footsteps sped towards them. She turned around, just in time to see Panne approaching.

"Curse that man!" Panne slowed down, tightening her fist. "Our eyes met for only a second before he blasted off. Took off rather quick, that one."

"You know him, Whiskers?" Gaius asked her.

"Once again, my name is not Whiskers, and I would not involve myself with that mage." Panne crossed her arms as she gave Gaius a contemptuous look. "But that manspawn was the same one who informed me of the attempt on your ruler's life. It was because of him that I was able to arrive the day I did."

"Wha—?" Reflet gasped, looking back in the direction where Henry left. "He knew about the assassination?"

Panne nodded her head. "We crossed paths one day while I searched for other members of my kind in a forest near this den of manspawn. I was already set to leave before he told me of a plan to kill the Exalt. He gave me the location of one of their leaders, though nothing else."

"No way," Reflet said. "So then why did he run away from you? Did he know that me and Gaius were there, too?"

"I know not the reason he ran, nor his reason for having told me of the attack in the first place. But I shall tell you this, his childish demeanor disguises his true nature," Panne said. "He is a dark mage through and through, skilled in dark arts as well as those of ice. And he is in service of Plegia, one of many in their army."

"That oddball's a soldier, huh?" Gaius tapped on his forehead, bringing his other hand forward. "But what's he doing saving the life of the ruler of an enemy country, then? Seems a bit strange if you ask me. He'd be sticking his neck out hard by doing something like that."

"Maybe he wanted to help us?" Reflet said.

"I wouldn't be so quick to assume so," Panne said. "He is still an enemy of ours, he may have ulterior motives. We don't know what goes in the mind of that man nor his superiors. I'd stay wary of him."

Was he their enemy? But he seemed so… nice. He gave her ice cream and he helped save Emmeryn's life. He couldn't be a bad person, could he? Reflet puffed a cheek, sad and stumped on what to think.

"So what should we do?" Gaius asked.

Reflet stopped for a moment, then shook her head. "We need to keep going. Saving Emmeryn's life is the most important thing right now." As much as she'd like to figure out what Henry's deal was, she had no time to focus on it.

"Gaius, what happened to the hideout? Are we going to be able to use it?" she asked.

"It's all set up," he answered. "We can go tell Blue to roll out whenever you're ready."

"Thank you," Reflet said. "And you, Panne? Did you learn anything when you were scouting?"

"I managed to eavesdrop on a pair of guards," Panne said. "They revealed to me the location of where your ruler is to be executed."

"Then we should go then," Reflet said. The three of them took off, heading up the road towards the Silver Ring. The city seemed to change the moment they passed the inner wall. The houses grew bigger and more elaborate, and the road and walls lost much of the dust that kicked around the Dust Ring behind them. Maybe that's why it's called the Silver Ring. The whole place seemed fancier, reminding her of the Iris Palace, though only tangentially.

They passed by one of the black watchtowers as they continued down the road, one with a pair of some kind of lanterns hanging at the entrance. Only instead of flickering with a warm, red fire one might find at a campfire, they flickered with a purple light, lighting the entrance with its glow amidst the daytime.

"You got your eye on the mage institute, am I right?" Gaius said.

"A mage institute?" she asked, understanding the first part but not the second.

"It's like a school that teaches magic," Gaius said. "We got them back in Ylisse, and Ferox has 'em, too. You can bet that's where most of Plegia's mages come from."

"Really? Wow." What kinds of magic did they teach? Could she go there to learn magic herself? Now Reflet was curious, wanting to go inside the institute to see it for herself.

But she shouldn't delay, however, her mission was much more important. And they had just one last stretch of road to deal with. As she passed through the gates of the second and final inner wall, she glanced up at the large castle right in the heart of the ring. Underneath the sun's light, the black castle looked more like a shadow standing atop a hill, watching the city below.

"Welcome to the Black Ring," Gaius said, looking around the city as he twisted the black wrap on his wrist. "Hate to ask, but where's Emmeryn gonna be when execution day comes along?"

"The castle's main courtyard, the guards revealed as much," Panne said, pointing to the road that cut through the wall surrounding the front of the castle and leading into the courtyard itself.

"Figures," Gaius said, shaking his head as he headed into the courtyard.

Reflet slipped through the bustling crowds of people as she watched the brick road shift into smooth, sandstone tiles once they crossed the courtyard's tall, wooden gates. The whole courtyard was spacious, fit for as many as a hundred or more people in the space between the gate and the castle's proper entrance.

But what really caught her eyes was the statue standing upon a pedestal at the western wall of the courtyard. It was of a man of stone, standing tall and readied as if to strike down his opponents. In his hands he carried an double-bladed axe as big as him, with fine markings made of gold on the side of the blades. The axe was big enough that the upper blade built itself into the top of the courtyard, functioning as a walkway.

"If I had to guess, that walkway would be where they'd drop her from," Gaius said, heading up the set of steps that separated them from the raised ledge that the statue stood upon. He put his hand upon the statue, looking up at the blade-walkway.

"You'd be right," Panne said as she went up the steps. "She is to be executed upon the 19th. If the Shepherds still refuse to comply with Gangrel's demands, her life is to be forfeited."

Reflet frowned as she touched the side of the statue. "Well, we still need to come up with a plan no matter what happens."

She circled around the pedestal, running her finger along the long rim when she noticed the second person that was a part of the statue. They were sitting at the edge, with one foot on the pedestal and the other hanging off the side. They held a book within their hands, reading it underneath the shadow of the man behind them. Markings of gold etched the front and back of the book, just like the axe above the person's head. A golden mark of a hammer engraved itself in the middle of the cover, completing the book.

"Hey, did you two notice this part of the statue?" she asked, calling them over.

"Hmm?" Gaius hummed as he walked around the statues, sweeping his eyes over the second stone statue. "Guess I must've missed this one. To tell you the truth, I hardly hang around the castle unless I've got business here. I don't want guards remembering what I look like if you catch my drift."

"Whatcha think, Panne?" he asked. "Got any idea who these guys are?"

Panne glanced at the statues for a moment before crossing her arms. "Human culture is foreign to me, much less that of Plegia. The den of my people lies within the far northern ends of the continent, away from human civilization. Yet whomever these people are, it's clear they must be important to the people of this country."

She gave a shake of her head, turning to Reflet. "But that matters little. What use will this knowledge have? How does it add to your plans?"

"Uhh, yeah," Reflet muttered. Seeing Panne's eyes made her dip her head as she scratched the back of her neck. She paused for a moment before speaking, trying to work out the plan in her head. "Maybe we could use the Pegasus Knights? They could fly over the wall to rescue her."

Panne briefly scrunched her nose, tilting her head forwards. "You seem unsure, your heart gives it away." She flicked her head back up, tapping her finger on her elbow.

"Umm, maybe…" Reflet shied her head further away before picking it up to meet Panne's eyes. "But I'm serious. It'd be hard to get up the wall without being spotted, and it's the same if we tried to get a really long ladder. But the Pegasus Knights could fly over the wall, grab her and speed right out. And they'd do it faster than any other option could, too."

"Hmm, very well." Panne lowered her arms, releasing her stare. "Looks like you do have something after all. I'm looking forward to seeing how the plans of a scared rabbit will turn out once it's time to put them into action."

Reflet squeaked, hopping and bringing her hands to her chest on reflex. "Scared rabbit?!"

"Heh," Panne chuckled, closing her eyes as her grin widened. "I'm merely describing what I see in front of me. And what I see is an earless rabbit-wearer who's more rabbit than wearer. I can already see you in the wilds with other Taguel, running away from the wolf pack instead of fighting it head on."

She opened her eyes as she sized Reflet up. "You'd make for a small Taguel were you an actual one. The smallest I've ever met in fact. Would the tiny rabbit like a carrot?"

Reflet's cheeks flushed as she shook her head rapidly. "I'm not a Taguel! I'm a human! I'm a normally-sized small human!" She let out a whine as she brought her hands down, both of which only served to make Panne laugh even louder.

"It's been far too long since I've last done this," Panne said, pressing her thumb into her cheek.

Gaius cut in, raising his hand up, "Not to butt in on the whole predator-and-prey bit you got going on here, Whiskers, but we got a problem," He flicked his finger at Reflet. "What if the Wyvern Knights catch us, though? You saw how they fought at that ambush. We got stomped out there, and the Peg Knights got taken out just as quickly cause they couldn't get in the air."

Reflet let out a long sigh of relief. "Well, from what I learned lately, wyverns don't deal well with arrows while they're in the air, and magic is supposed to give them trouble, too. But I don't think we should enter another fight against them. The wyverns themselves are as dangerous as their riders, or even worse. We'd be better off if we avoid them entirely."

"Well that might not be possible unless we knew for certain that the Wyvern Knights aren't going to attack us," Gaius said. "And who knows the odds of that ever happening?"

"You're right about that," Reflet said, putting her hand on her cheek. "If only we had some way to figure out where they'd be, then we could effectively plan around them."

She scratched her cheek with her finger, looking over to the entrance doors of the castle where people—guards, mages as well as nobles—passed in and out of in packs. Was there a reason the castle looked so busy?

"Well, I think we might actually have a way to find out," Gaius said.

"We do? What is it?" she asked.

Gaius smirked, stepping towards the black castle to the right of them. "Have you ever broken into a castle before?"

Reflet took a moment to think, bringing her eyes up. "No, I think I would've remembered that if I did." She brought them back down as she realized what he meant, shaking her head. "Wait, are you saying we should break in?"

"I'm just saying that if we play our cards right then we could break in, find what we need and head out without a hitch," he said.

"But if we get caught then something bad might happen to us, or maybe even all the Shepherds," Reflet said, lowering her head. "But if we do figure something out, then we'd have a much better chance at saving Emmeryn."

"We do have a thief that broke into a castle twice already," Gaius added. "Follow my lead and we'll be fine. Still, you're the gal-pal with the plan, so it's up to you to make the final call."

Reflet looked up at the watchtower that rose from the castle, weighing the options within her head. "Maybe we should go in, then," she said. There was a risk involved, but she needed to make sure Emmeryn came out of this alive.

"Alright then," Gaius said. "Come on, let's head out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	19. Inheritor of Light

"I stayed silent earlier, but the thief who broke into the palace twice was also the same one who was caught twice."

"Shush, Whiskers," Gaius said as the three of them made their way to the entrance of the castle. He put his hand on the front door and pushed it open, heading into a long hall packed with people. Weaving through a group of mages and a group of nobles, he looked around the black halls with black walls filled with fancy black tables and fancy black chairs.

"Plegia sure loves its black, but then again, who doesn't?" he joked, smiling at his two allies tailing his back while at the same time eyeing the outfits of the nobles passing from one hallway into the next. His grin grew cheeky as he relaxed his neck, sweeping his eyes over all the faces in the room.

"I've only ever passed over this place once before, so the first thing we gotta figure out is where exactly they'd keep their info," he said as his eyes crossed with that of a guard's for only a moment. Glancing away and breaking eye contact, he hastened his pace and turned the corner into a side hallway. He gestured for Reflet and Panne to hurry up, bringing them in front of him as he hugged the wall and kept out of the guard's vision.

"Don't be too alarmed, but a guard's noticed us," Gaius told them, pulling out one of the daggers tied to the belt around his thigh.

'They have?" Reflet asked, knitting her eyebrows. "What's gonna happen?"

"Don't worry," he said, "there's no way he figured out what we're pulling off here." He turned to Reflet, giving her a smile and a pat on the head to try to reassure her. Her eyes clearly weren't that of a thief's, though he already knew that just from the way she spoke. Too sweet. The kind of person who hasn't seen much of the world.

Wouldn't be much of a problem, so long as he watched out for her. "It'll be fine, Reflet," he said to her, twisting his silver-like dagger around until he could see the guard in the reflection. A young adult, somewhere between eighteen and twenty-four if he had to guess. The guard scratched his neck, watching the other passersby for a moment before staring down at his shoes and ignoring them shortly thereafter.

"Might not be too much of an issue," he noted to himself, slipping his dagger back into place. "Come on, let's head down this way."

He gestured for the others to keep moving, keeping himself cool and calm as they headed away from the crowded and guarded main hall. Very guarded. He caught seven different lance-wielding guards in the short time he looked at his knife.

"So, since you might be wondering, Reflet, we're going down this way to get away from the guards," he said.

"Mmhm?" she said, her eyes kept on him.

"Here's the first lesson you'll hear from me:" he said, raising his finger, "Crowds are okay for blending in, not okay for dealing with. A crowd of people can act as a good hiding spot, since it's harder for people to spot you if they have to pick you in a crowd. But a crowd of guards is bad business. If a single one recognizes who you are, or doesn't buy what you're sellin' 'em, then they're all gonna be on your case. Of course there are times where you'll have to deal with guards no matter what, and we're probably going to have to deal with them soon, too."

"So… avoid guards?" she parroted. "If I can, that is."

"Exactly," he said, giving her another headpat as they turned another corner. They entered another room, a library, and much less busy than the main hall. He glanced around, spotting only two guards in the room as he went over to the bookshelf in the corner. He picked out a random book and pretended to read it, running his hand over the top of another book before casually dropping it into Reflet's hands.

"A book?" she said, opening the book and reading the table of contents. "The Mystery of the Goddess of Lightning..."

"Lesson two, don't make it obvious that you're trying to break into a place," he said. "Try to at least look like you know what you're doing."

"But what if I don't know what I'm doing though?" she asked, trying to read through the first page of her book.

"Then try to fake it," he said as he read the same line in his book five times in a row. "Even faking it is enough to fool plenty of people." He grabbed another book and passed it to Panne, sitting himself down at the table nearby. He signalled for everyone to stay quiet, peeking at the guards out of the corner of his eyes.

"What are we doing now?" Reflet asked, taking her seat.

"Just keep quiet, I'm trying to listen." He adjusted himself in his seat when he saw a mage approach the guards. He narrowed his eyes, tilting his head ever so slightly as he tried to focus on what they were saying.

"Yes…" the mage said. "I'm here to deliver the…"

"Very well, go right ahead," he heard the guard say as the mage started climbing up the steps.

"Damn it," he whispered as he put his hand on his head. "I didn't catch everything they said." Now they'd have to wait longer for another person to go upstairs, but in that time the guards might think something's up and approach them.

Gaius was about to get out of his seat and tell the other two to keep moving when Panne spoke up, "I heard it," she said. "That mage carried with him a report on the status of the Wyvern Knights. They are delivering it to one of the offices upstairs."

"Woah, you heard all that?" Gaius said, inching back down. "That's some strong hearing, Whiskers."

Panne gave him a clearly annoyed eyebrow, one that made him snicker back. "Yes, nicknames aside, my hearing is rather impressive. It is quite stronger than manspawn such as you and the small one."

"I'll take your word for it," he said, leaning back in his chair. He flicked his cheek with his thumb, thinking of an excuse to get past the guards.

"Watch closely, Reflet," he said, getting out of his seat. "Lesson three, I'm gonna show you how to trick someone into believing you belong somewhere you don't."

He put his book on the table, approaching the two guards standing in front of the staircase. "I'm sorry about this, but my friends and I left our magic books and some other stuff upstairs. Can I just run up there and grab them? It'll be real quick."

"Err, you did?" one of the guards said. "Well, you don't wanna be caught without them, don't you? Come on, let's get you your things."

The guard was about to lead him up the stairs when the second guard put his hand in front of her. "Hang on," he said, looking at Gaius. "I don't think I've seen you around here. What's your name, sir?"

"Henry, third year," he lied. "And maybe you must've missed us while we were upstairs, because we did have different clothes at the time."

It was a gamble to use the name of that kid from earlier, but he was betting against the odds of the guard both knowing that kid's name and what he looked like right now. Even if he left to check a roster, he could probably convince the other guard to let him go upstairs and snatch the report before the guard could do something about it.

"No." The guard narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry that you left your stuff upstairs, but I'm going to have to ask you to see the mage officer."

"But sir," the second guard said. "we've never needed to ask her about—"

"Well she said to start askin' her now." The guard smirked as he crossed his arms. "Look, Henry," he said, emphasizing the Henry part, "if you can go find her and bring her over here, then I'll let ya in. But unless I see her, you ain't goin' upstairs."

"Uh, seriously?" Gaius lifted a hand up. "Dude, she's right, we've never done this before."

"Yeah, man," the other guard added. "Just let him in and we can explain to the officer what happened later."

Her partner chuckled, shaking his head. "Sorry, I don't make the rules."

"Whatever," Gaius said, giving him a scoff and glare. "I'mma go find the officer, and when I do I'm gonna tell her you've been messing with me."

"Good luck," the stubborn guard said, laughing as Gaius turned and walked away from the two.

Damn it. If it was just the other guard, he'd be well on his way upstairs. But either this guard didn't buy his lies, or he was just a generally too cautious person.

"So, what happened to showing her how to trick someone into letting you go upstairs?" Panne said as he arrived back at the table.

"Lesson four, don't give up easily," he said, raising four fingers. "There's usually one or more ways to get inside a place. We just gotta figure out how."

He put his fist under his chin, scratching his neck with his thumb. "Maybe there's a wig and a fake mustache store nearby?"

"That sounds like a foolish idea," Panne said. "It's quite possible for the guard to recognize you through such a cheap disguise like that."

"We could always come back later with a new plan," he said. "Or maybe we could get our hands on a mage's outfit, and sneak in with that instead."

"There is no need for either of those things, I've already thought of a much more effective plan."

"Oh really? What is it then, Whiskers?"

"It's rather simple, really." Panne chuckled, unfolding her arms. "Now it's both your turns to follow my lead. Be warned, this plan has only one chance to succeed, and once I begin I'll be heading straight for our camp back in the outskirts of the desert."

"Got it." Gaius nodded as he turned to Reflet. "Get yourself ready."

"Uhuh," Reflet said, closing her book and holding it at her chest.

Panne walked over to a large pot with a plant in it sitting on top of one of the bookshelves. Grabbing it with both hands, she smashed it into the ground with a loud, shattering crack.

"Hey!" the stubborn guard shouted as he stormed over to Panne and the pile of dirt and broken shards, with the other guard following him. "Care to explain yourself?"

Panne did nothing but scoff at him before she raised her fist and slammed it into his chest, all without giving the man a moment to even lift his spear. The man stumbled backwards as he gasped for air, his hands clutching his chest.

"Sir!" the other guard said in shock, putting her hands on the man as Panne slipped out of the room.

"After her!" the stubborn guard coughed out, throwing his hand forward. "After her now!" He pushed himself up using his spear, chasing after Panne with the other guard following after.

"Well, that certainly counts as one way to sneak past a guard." Gaius grinned. "Come on, let's sneak upstairs while they're gone!"

He and Reflet hurried over to the staircase and climbed its steps to reach a cylindrical room with even more bookshelves encircling the wall.

"We should be in the clear now," Gaius said, looking around the room. "Didn't think Whiskers was such a riot." This seemed to be a sort of gathering space, judging by the black, wooden tables within the room. This was probably where the mages came to eat or came to read. Or both, he knew he did both.

"Was that right, what Panne did?" Reflet asked all of the sudden.

"What, hitting that guard in the chest? Reflet, we fight people for a living." He looked behind himself to see her head hanging low and her eyes peering at the grey carpet at their feet.

"Well, yeah, but…" Reflet shook her head. "Those people are people we have to fight. We didn't have to fight that guard, did we?"

"I think you're seeing this the wrong way," Gaius said. "Even though that guard wasn't actively fighting us, he's still a member of the Plegian guard, which makes him our enemy one way or another." He bent down and put his hands on his knees, meeting her at eye level. "Consider the alternative, what if he catches on to what we're doing? What if we don't find the reports we need to make the plan?"

He didn't need a response to see that she knew what he meant, the biting of her lip gave it away.

"I wish I could tell you that our jobs would be clear cut, but they aren't," he said. "Sorry, but that's just how it is."

"I get it, but I don't like it." She let out a tiny huff, lifting up her head.

"As long as we can still get the job done, that's fine by me," Gaius said.

Reflet nodded her head. "Yeah."

With that cleared up, Gaius continued looking around the room for anywhere those reports could be. Hopefully the guards wouldn't come upstairs for a while, still, they should still keep this job swift. It was better to stay here only as long as necessary.

He opened the door at the leftern side of the room, entering a long stretch of a hallway with a couple of doors on both sides. Documents laid atop the table of the first door he peeked into, scattered haphazardly as if whoever placed them down was in a rush.

"One of these rooms has to have what we need," he said. "Reflet, check the other rooms and see if the report's in one of them."

"Okay!" Reflet headed into the room across him and got straight to work. Meanwhile, he went over to the table, quickly scanning every document he got his hands on.

"Come on," he said, picking up the first document. "Institution fees? Nope." He set that paper aside and picked up the next. "A weapon inventory report? Not what I'm looking for either."

Tossing that one back on the table, he snatched up the third one and read off the title. "List of local and specialty bakeries? Saving that for later."

He folded the sheet and slipped it into the wrap on his wrist, going over to a wooden cabinet near the wall and rummaging through it.

"Damn it, where is it?" he said, unable to find even one so much as one Wyvern Knight-related report.

"Found it!" Reflet called out.

Sweet! Gaius closed the cabinet, turning to see his smaller ally holding a paper in her hands. Yet just before he could approach her, there was the sound of someone opening the door opposite from where they entered.

Shit! Gaius thought as he instinctively hid himself behind the table of the small room he was stuck in. Watching from his hiding spot, he saw a girl with black hair stepping into the office Reflet was in who made a jolt in surprise as she stared at Reflet.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she hissed.

He heard a squeak come from his ally as well as shocked stammering. Since the girl had yet to take notice of his presence, he peeked his head further out from underneath the table, leering at the black-haired lady from his cover. Her arms crossed over one another, a stack of papers in one hand and a pencil in the other. Combined with the black cloak that draped over her back and the golden headpiece she wore, Gaius figured she held some importance here.

Damn it, Reflet, it's all in your hands now. He bit down on his finger as he looked at his friend with cream-colored hair. Her whole body tensed as she looked up at the girl in front of her.

"I was just, uh, just delivering this!" Reflet swiftly bowed, stretching out her hands as she handed the paper to the girl.

"What's this?" she said, taking the paper from Reflet. "Hmm, the wyvern reports. Yes, Gangrel made me make a request for them earlier for him. Just leave it on the table. I'll look at it when I get the chance."

She handed the paper back to Reflet, waving a dismissive hand away from her. "Is that all? Or can I go now?" She looked down at her own papers, turning to the side. "I'm far too busy today for whatever's going on in this part of the castle."

Reflet picked her head up and shook it left and right. "Nope! That's all!" Clearly being in a caught position was like being a fish out of water for her. He could only hope this could go smoothly. If she could just get the girl to leave, they could get out of here in no time.

"Is something the matter?" the girl pressed as she glanced at Reflet. "Come to think of it, who are you? You must be a mage, but I've never seen you around before."

"Umm, umm, my name is Reflet," she said, her cheeks burning red. She paused for a moment as she looked to Gaius, who rolled his hand forward, trying to spur her to keep going.

Come on, you got this. Remember the lessons.

Reflet knitted her eyebrows, putting her hand on her arm. "I'm new here, and I don't really know what's going on."

"Hmm, so you've freshly joined, then. I suppose Gangrel's either getting more serious or more desperate if he's resorted to relying on inexperienced mages from the institutes." The girl turned around, nearly leaving the offices before Reflet called for her.

"Wait, why is he getting more serious?" Reflet asked, reaching her hand out. "What does he need all these mages for?"

Gaius made a noiseless rasp. Seriously, Reflet? She was right about to leave, and now you're bringing her back into the conversation. Looks like that's the next lesson he'll have to teach her.

"What does he need them for?" the girl repeated, turning back to Reflet. "Obviously it's because he needs us for war he dragged us into. Don't tell me you weren't there when that clown made his speech about how this was justice against the Ylisseans for the crimes they've done then and now." She scoffed. "Just a bunch of hogwash if you ask me."

"How so?" Reflet scratched her cheek as she took a small breath. "I wasn't there when he made his speech, I wasn't even in the city at the time."

"Hmm, I see…" The girl crossed her arms once again. "Yes, it's true that Ylisse has committed atrocious acts in the past towards us, but did he ever stop to consider that maybe some of us don't even want to partake in this war?" She growled underneath her breath, fidgeting with the papers in her hand. "I even told him as such, but so long as he has the Archwitch and her supporters backing him, he'll act like he can do whatever he wants. And he can."

Hang on, now that sounded a bit interesting. Gaius narrowed his eyes, listening further into the conversation.

"So, you don't want to go to war?" Reflet said, knitting her eyebrows.

"Not particularly, if you catch my drift. I mean, long live the king and all, but I'd like to keep living as well." The girl shrugged. "Our country is still recovering from the previous war and Gangrel knows this. Sure, we have gold, all the gold a country could ever want, but our food supplies continue to run short each year. A new war will only aggravate our problems if it is allowed to drag on, which it very well could. Even I can see how unreasonable it is."

She's not wrong. He was there on the Ylisse side of things and it wasn't pretty, either. The war was why he became a thief in the first place.

"Yeah," Reflet said, sighing. "I think things would be better if we didn't have to go to war."

"Unfortunately, it's not like I don't see the reasonings behind his decision," the girl said, biting down on her thumb. "We've received no word from the Ylissean army since we sent our letters to them, and neither the commanding prince nor members of his vanguard have been sighted since the day Gangrel ambushed them. Their lack of a response might signal their intent to retaliate."

She clicked her tongue as she went closer to Reflet, placing a hand upon the table beside them. "If only we didn't have to deal with this. Things would be so much easier if the Ylisseans weren't dragging us into the war in the first place."

"Wait a second, what do you mean by that?" Reflet asked. "How did the Ylisseans start the war?"

"Well it was the prince himself who made the first strike, wasn't it?" the girl said. "Ignoring the queen's judgement, he chose to charge at our soldiers and kill them. That's exactly how you drag a country into a war."

Technically, she wasn't wrong, Gaius thought to himself. However, it was Gangrel who provoked Chrom into attacking. And with Maribelle's life on the line, there was little anyone could've done besides fight to save her.

However, while he stayed quiet as he heard the girl's words, Reflet instead recoiled backwards, her hand clenched. "Well, you're right about him striking first back at the mountain pass," she said, "but Plegia was the one to start this war, not Ylisse!"

Gaius's eyes went wide at that, and from his hiding spot he could see the girl doing the same.

"What?" the girl said, now stepping back herself. "How were we the ones who started this? Do you even realize what you're saying?"

Reflet shook her head once again. "Plegia's been attacking Ylisse since before the war started! They've been pretending to be bandits and attacking villages!"

Gaius slapped his head as he made a hard clench of his teeth. Damn it, Reflet! These are the things that are gonna get you caught! And it wasn't like he could bail her out, either! He was stuck here, forced to watch the two girls debate while their risk of getting caught rises with every second!

He swiped his hand off his head and watched as the girl Reflet talked to stood silent with her mouth open. She said nothing for a moment as she looked at Reflet, before twisting her eyebrows and folding her arms once more.

"This is news to me…" the girl said. "But where on earth did you get this information? If it's even true in the first place. There are no records of Gangrel sending soldiers under the guise of bandits to Ylisse, otherwise I would've been one of the first to know. So how would you know this, and what proof do you have?"

It was then that Reflet's eyes flared. She glanced at Gaius, looking at him with a look that said she screwed up on so many levels.

"You think?" he silently mimed as he flashed his eyebrows. How the hell was she going to get them out of the mess she got them in?

"B-because," Reflet said with a slight stutter, "I was there when it happened. I watched bandits attack a village known as Southside in South Ylisse. And they carried a letter in their belongings when they got arrested, one that said that Plegia would be pleased if they kept raiding more villages."

There was a loud thud underneath the table as Gaius whacked his head into it. He stifled his scream into a whimper as he hit his head on the floor, cursing silently as he rolled around.

"Then tell me, where is that letter?" the girl said.

"I don't have it on me, it's with my friend back at our camp," Reflet said.

"Bring it to me," the girl replied. "But not now. I have far too much to focus on and I cannot afford to waste any more time."

She picked up a paper off the table and scribbled something on it with the pencil in her hands, handing the paper to Reflet. "Here, take this. And don't tell anyone else here about what you just told me or about our meeting. As for me, I should've left five minutes ago. That guard who's supposed to be guarding the queen in her room next to us has gone missing, and now I'm the one who's forced to search this entire place for that fool."

The girl huffed a breath as she went over to the door, leaving the room to just Reflet and Gaius. Gaius allowed himself to groan when the door closed, crawling out from under the table and pushing his arms off the ground.

"Oh sweet Demon King. Reflet, I need to have a talk with you." He grunted once more as he stood back up, rubbing the back of his head as he looked at the girl with two papers in her hands. "You should consider yourself extremely lucky that she's not going to rat us out. What's on that paper she gave you?"

Reflet gave the paper to him. "Here you go, but what do you mean by that?"

"You were doing really well at first, but a proper scout doesn't linger in a conversation. And the last thing you wanna do is say things like how you saw their country attack ours. If she was someone else, she might've just sent you to prison on the spot for lying."

"But I didn't lie," Reflet said. "That was the truth, isn't that what matters?"

"You didn't lie, true, but your enemies might not care about that. They might say the things you said were treason or something. Really, I'm just trying to keep you from being framed by some asshole."

Gaius lifted the paper to his eyes. "Although in this case, it really does look like you might've been lucky." It was a small, thin flashcard. And scribbled on it was a place to go to, a date, and a name to ask for.

"Looks like this girl wants you to meet her once again to talk about that stuff you were talking about earlier." Handing the paper back to her, he pulled out two wrapped squares of butterscotch from his sleeve-wrap and passed one to Reflet while snacking on the other. Sugar always calmed him down after a pinched moment, plus it was just so darn good.

"Maybe this did turn out for the better, although who knows what that girl's exact deal is," he said, sucking on his candy with a grin. "But did you hear that last thing she said? Queen Emmeryn's in the room right next to us, completely unguarded. Whatcha think? Think we should risk it and go to her? Who knows, we may even be able to break her out right now. We're already in deep, doesn't hurt to dig a little deeper if the payoff is worth it."

Peeling away the wrapper with her small hands, Reflet's eyes went wide as she made a small nod. "Yeah, I was going to ask the same thing. Come on, let's go to her and maybe we can find a way to get her out."

"Sounds like a plan," Gaius said. "Let's go where we're needed."

He walked with her over to the black, metal door at the end of the hallway, opening it and heading into the next room. Somewhere around here was the Queen, and they were going to find her.

* * *

In front of Reflet was a door just like the one they passed through just a second ago. A black, metal door with a heavy lock on it to keep people out.

"Gimme a moment." Gaius took out a thin knife from its hiding spot alongside a lockpick, getting to work on the lock. After a minute of fidgeting with the lock, a clicking noise came from the door as Gaius made a quick chuckle.

"Piece of cake," he said as he twisted the door handle and pulled it back. Inside was a room with warm lights and a simple yet elaborate table in the middle of one half of the room. The other half was separated by a row of iron bars built into the walls, fencing them off from the other side of the room.

And behind those bars was a tall woman, her hand on her head as she sat at a small table and read from a book. She turned their way as she heard the door close, letting out a small gasp as she met Reflet's eyes.

"Reflet?" she said. "And Gaius!"

Hearing her call her name, a curl formed on Reflet's lips as she rushed over to the fence between them. "Emmeryn!"

"Sup, Queenie!" Gaius said, waving at her before he gave her a pained look. "I'm sorry you're in this mess. But we're working on a way to get you out of here."

"Is that so?" Emmeryn gave them both a smile of her own, getting out of her seat and coming over to the fence. "Then I must be blessed to have such friends who'd risk their lives for my sake. This place is dangerous, you know. If someone catches you, you could very well be thrown into the dungeon downstairs."

"That we do, but we couldn't not come see the world's best ruler," he said, giving her a wink.

Emmeryn shook her head as a light yet warm giggle came from her mouth. "Please, I'm just a queen, surely I'm far from the best."

Gaius raised his hand up and shrugged. "You say that, but I don't know how many rulers are as kind as you've been to all of us."

"Mmhm! You're the best queen!" Reflet said. She brought her hands to her chest, nodding her head rapidly.

"Oh dear," Emmeryn said, covering her mouth as she chuckled again. "I'm glad that there are people so fond of me and my ruling. I often get worried, as a matter of fact."

"You do?" Reflet said. "Aww, I'm sorry." Her smile turned into a frown. She knew how some people treated Emmeryn back then, and it just wasn't right.

"Well those guys making you worry can eat it," Gaius said. "In any case, we've been comin' up with a plan to break you out of here. Actually, the one who's really pulling her weight is this girl right here. She's been doing the real work. Make sure to thank Cream when we get you out of here, kay?"

Reflet yelped as Gaius put a hand on her head and started messing up her hair. "Cream? Who's Cream?" she said, her eyes squeezed shut and her cheeks red.

"You're Cream as of now," he said, "'cause you like ice cream so much. And you got cream-colored hair, too." He flicked a finger to Emmeryn. "You should see the way she scarfs food down. Hungriest rabbit on the planet."

"Meep!" Reflet squeaked. "Why does everyone call me a rabbit?"

"Cause Whiskers called you one," he answered. "Heh."

"I'm happy to see that you're making friends, Cream." Emmeryn made a snort as she took a small step back. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't stop myself from using it at least once."

Reflet shook Gaius's hand off of her, pouting at both of them. Though it wasn't long before that pout cracked back into a smile as her cheeks calmed down. The nickname was rather cute, she quite liked it actually.

"It's been almost a whole month since you've been gone, Emmeryn," Reflet said. "I miss you. Chrom, Liz, and Freddy all miss you. Everyone misses you."

Her friend's hair, once neat and seemingly perfect, had now grown unkempt and unlike how it used to be. There were bags under her eyes, too, a clear sign of stress and lack of sleep.

But despite that, the smile on Emmeryn's face was just as warm as it had always been. Seeing it was enough to make a spark linger in her heart.

"It has been that long, hasn't it?" Emmeryn said. "These days have been mostly filled with thoughts of you all. Yes, my situation is perhaps better than most, and I suppose I'm a bit thankful for that. But in the end, I've been trapped in this cell since the day I was taken away."

Reflet took a seat on the floor of the prison. "I'm sorry we couldn't protect you." She curled her hands at her knees, digging into the white pants that she wore upon her very first day waking up. Even without her beloved hood, she found herself defaulting to the outfit out of what safety it still made her feel.

"It's quite alright," Emmeryn said. "I know you've done your best, and you continue to do so. Look at what you're doing right now. You've come all this way, and now you and the Shepherds are right here in the heart of Plegia." She looked at Gaius. "You said she was the one pulling her weight?"

"Yep," Gaius said. "We've been using her plans to get us to Plegia without being spotted. We got the Feroxi army on standby near the Midmire, but the Shepherds snuck through that giant lake up north to get here."

"Yeah," Reflet said. "And we're getting all the info we need so we can rescue you when your execution day comes. We just found out the Wyvern Knight's movement patterns, and I'm going to try to build them into the rescue plan."

She looked at the prison door that Gaius started running his hands upon. "But if we could get you out of there right now, we would in a heartbeat," she said.

"Yeah, but I don't see a lock or anything on this door," Gaius said, giving up and lowering his hands. "Sorry guys, doesn't look like I can break it open."

"And I'm afraid magic won't work either," Emmeryn said. "Gangrel has placed a sort of barrier around this room. No magic seems to work within here." She lifted her hand up as nothing more than a single spark of light died as soon as it came to life. And though she'd yet to cast magic, Reflet could feel a hint of exhaustion within the air, weakening her as if she'd spent all her mana.

"But I understand," Emmeryn continued. "I'll just have to wait until my day comes." She lowered her eyes to the ground, turning slightly away from them. "I don't really wish to die. I assume that since there's an escape plan, then no one intends to surrender to Gangrel's demands?"

"I don't think so," Reflet said, shaking her head. "But if it meant you'll still be alive, then I would if I could. I don't want this fighting to continue, too many people will die if it does."

"I feel the same way, in wanting the fighting to end," Emmeryn said, lifting her head. "Much of my life was in the wake of what my father did to our country and our enemies. I've seen firsthand the suffering war brings. That's why I wished above all else to avoid a second war between Plegia and Ylisse."

"I'm sorry," Reflet said. She lowered her head, staying quiet.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Emmeryn bent down and reached for Reflet's head, rubbing it softly. "It was not you who wanted this to happen. If anything, it's my fault that we're in this war in the first place."

"No it's not!" Reflet said. "How is this your fault?"

Emmeryn pulled away, turning her head away from her as she took a seat on her bed. She sat still for a moment, softly huffing a breath. "It is my responsibility to lead my people. Thus, should they come into harm's way, then it is because I was negligent."

She lightly bit down on her lip, shaking her head with the same amount of minimal movement. "I look back and all I can see are moments where I could've done more. I should have done more to make amends with Plegia. I should have done more to prevent the war from happening. And I shouldn't have let myself be kidnapped, either." She closed her eyes, hanging her head down. "Everything has gone wrong since even before the war broke out."

"But you're not in control of everything that happens," Gaius pointed out. "And you can't predict the future, either. You can bet your cinnamon buns that Gangrel wanted this war. You did what you could with the stacked deck you were given."

When Emmeryn didn't respond to Gaius's words, he dropped the remains of the small smile he had.

"I hope the things you say about my actions really are true," Emmeryn finally said, "but I still feel regret in my heart. There must be something I can still do. I don't want to be stuck here in this cage while my people live in fear of losing their lives."

"Come on, Queenie. Don't give me that gloomy face. It'll only be a couple of weeks before we steal you back to our side, so hang tight."

Gaius stepped closer to the fence between them. His eyes, half-lidded and with only half the light they had earlier, gazed at the queen as he held one of the bars and ran his thumb along it. "You saved my life twice now, so what kind of thief would I be if I didn't pay you back at least once?"

"And me, too," Reflet said, nodding her head as she looked up to Emmeryn. "You saved my life too, and you've helped me so much. I want to make sure you come back to the Shepherds alive no matter what. And that's why I'm going to make sure this plan is perfect. Then you'll be back with us, and then this war can end."

"...I do have the sweetest subjects, don't I?" Emmeryn got off the bed and went back over to the two of them. "Honestly, it might be more of a fan club at this point," she said with a giggle, her smile returning.

"Hey, if it takes a fan club to break you out of here, then a fan club is what you're gonna get," Gaius said with a chuckle of his own. Reflet giggled, feeling her own smile coming back as the other two's did.

"Were I not behind these bars I would hug the two of you so much right now," Emmeryn said.

Gaius shrugged as he turned to Reflet. "I wouldn't mind a hug from a queen. Wanna try hugging her through the fence?"

"I mean," Reflet said, tilting her head. "We could try."

She reached forward, sticking her arm through the bars and swiping onto Emmeryn's back. She worked with the other two to pull each other into one big hug, pressing their faces upon the hard, cold iron as they awkwardly tried to keep their hands wrapped around one another. She struggled to slip her arms out of the knot of a hug they created, pulling her cheek off the iron and stumbling back with a laugh shared by the others.

"Welp, that's the dorkiest thing I've done today," Gaius said, rubbing the part of his cheek that now had red lines across it. "But it was still sweet."

"Indeed, it's probably both the sweetest and the dorkiest thing I've seen all month," Emmeryn said, rubbing her own cheeks. "While it's a pleasure to have you both in my company, I don't know how much time is left before the guard returns. But before you leave, may I ask just a few things from you two?"

"What is it?" Reflet asked.

Emmeryn took in a breath through her nose. "If something goes wrong, and I don't make it out of this…"

"Hey, don't say things like that right now," Gaius said, cutting in. "Thinking like that is only going to make you upset yourself, especially when you're trapped here and can't do anything about it. We won't know what happens until it happens."

Emmeryn raised her hand. "I understand what you're trying to say, but it still is a possibility that could very well happen," she said, lowering her hand back down. "I believe it's important to talk about such things even if it seems unlikely."

"You're right, but…" Gaius stopped himself, grabbing at one of the sturdy bars and giving it a shake. Only it refused him, barely moving less than an inch no matter how tight his grip was.

"If I do die," Emmeryn said. "Then I want you to stay strong. Both of you, and all my friends in the Shepherds. I want them to know that this will not be the end. So long as you have hope as you look towards the future, then I'm sure everything will turn out as it should."

"I'll be sure the message gets sent," Gaius said quietly. But at the same time Reflet lifted her head, her mouth parting open as her eyes widened.

"Mar-Mar says the exact same thing," she said.

"Does she now?" Emmeryn blinked, her own lips parting before she smiled. "Then I suppose I need to thank whoever told her that. I hope she's doing well wherever she is."

"Yeah, me too…" Reflet let out a sigh as she sat back down on the floor, lowering her head for just a moment when Emmeryn spoke to her.

"There is one last thing I wish to tell you, Reflet," she said.

"Me?" Reflet said, bringing her head back up.

"I'm proud of how far you've come."

"You're proud… of me?"

Emmeryn nodded her head. "I remember that when we first met, you could barely look me in the eye for more than a moment without looking away. You were just so shy back then."

"Ah—, yeah…" Reflet blushed, holding onto her shoulders and rubbing them as she shied her head. Emmeryn giggled as she watched her curl up, taking a seat next to Reflet as she covered her mouth with her hand.

"And you still are just as shy, though that's more than alright with me. Most of my friends are hardly bashful at all, it's rather refreshing." Emmeryn reached her hand through the fence, placing it upon Reflet's head once again. "But you've also grown. And since the day you met my brother, you've always chosen to fight alongside him and his allies."

"...But, I haven't really fought much," Reflet said, looking down at the fine wooden floor. "I fainted when we ran away from Gangrel, and it was my fault that you got kidnapped in the first place."

"But if not for you, we might not have received Ferox's aid," Emmeryn said. "And it was because of you that you all are here today."

Her hands, delicate yet firm, ran down the white waves of Reflet's hair as she looked at her with her warm blue eyes and smile. "Your victories are not the result of your strength alone, Reflet. You have a brilliant mind, a creative one that I know will lead you the right way. You have a power within you. All you have to do now is to keep using it."

"Are you sure that's true?" Reflet said, holding onto her elbow.

"I have seen it myself, so I know it to be true," Emmeryn said. "And I hope to live long enough to see you grow into something even more wonderful."

"...Thank you, Emmeryn." Reflet bowed her head, picking it back up. "I'll try my best."

"I know you will," Emmeryn said. "You two should really leave now. I'm getting quite nervous that the guard watching me will return."

"Yeah," Gaius said, pulling Reflet off the ground. "Come on Reflet, let's head out."

"Mmhm," she said with a nod, getting ready to leave through the door when Gaius suddenly stopped right as they reached it.

"Hang on," he said, turning back around. "I got something for ya, Queenie."

"Something for me?" Emmeryn said as Gaius headed back to her. He stretched his hand out, sliding his other hand under the black cloth wrap around his right wrist and pulling something out. He brought his left hand through the cell walls, placing that something within her hand.

Emmeryn opened her hand, looking at the handful of small, brown squares wrapped in tight, brown paper. "Candies?"

"Caramels, butterscotch, anything I could get my hands on really. And I made it myself." Gaius lifted his head as he played with his bangs. "I figure prison food ain't exactly the best, so you should just take everything you can get. And don't worry about me, I got a stash of the stuff back at camp anyways."

"I haven't had candy since my imprisonment. Oh, now I wish I had chocolates," she said with a hint of a slight whine in her voice.

"Then if I ever get the chance, I'll make sure to get you some next time," he said, lowering his head.

Emmeryn snickered through her nose as she perked up, smiling at him. "Thank you, Gaius. I'm sure these will be wonderful." She went over to her bed, stashing them away underneath her pillow.

"Of course." he said, heading back to the door. He flashed one last look at Emmeryn, lifting two of his fingers as he smiled back at her. "We're gonna get you out of here, kay? I promise it."

And with that, the two of them headed out of the door.


	20. Id ~ Serenity

Evening had come to the desert when she heard the flapping of white wings in the air. A group of white horses flew fast and low between the yellow sands and the reddening sky as they came towards the Shepherds in a V-formation.

"Hey!" she shouted, looking for Frederick only to catch him as he was leaving the strategy tent. "The Pegasus Knights are here!"

Frederick gave her a nod and headed off to find Chrom. By the time Cordelia turned back, the Pegasus Knights had begun their descent. The white horses slowed down as their feet touched the sand, breaking from their flight into a run. By the time they reached the edge of the camp, the horses stopped themselves in their tracks, knocking around a light amount of sand as they did.

"Good evening Cordelia." The knight leading the formation tugged her reins as she stared down at her. "You're not shirking your training, I see."

"I never do," Cordelia replied, saluting her superior as she lowered her lance. "And good evening to you as well, Commander Phila."

Phila lifted the golden, horned helmet off her head, keeping it under her arm as she got off her horse's saddle. "No soldiers spotted us as we followed the path you and the Shepherds laid out for us. Hopefully that stays true as we continue this mission."

"Agreed," Cordelia said. "How was the trip here?"

"Decent enough," her commander replied, blunt and direct. "But let's skip the small talk for now. We can save it for after we meet with the prince and his retainer."

"I agree," Frederick said, walking back over to the two of them. "Small talk can wait."

"Hello there, Phila," Chrom said, a step behind Frederick. He waved at Phila, picking up his pace before stopping right next to them.

"Prince Chrom, Frederick," Phila said. "What have you done to further our plans in rescuing the Exalt from her current situation?"

"As much as we can," Chrom said. "I've sent scouts to Doluna beforehand, we should receive word from them when they return."

"Very well." Phila said as she turned to the Pegasus Knight in the silver-horned helmet behind her. "Skye, you and the rest of us will continue following me."

"Yes, Commander Phila," the Pegasus Knight said as she approached her. But when her eyes met Cordelia's, she took a step back as she made a quiet gasp.

"Ah— Cordelia."

Cordelia folded her arms, gripping down on the inside of her elbow. "Yes?"

Skye was about to speak, but cut herself off as she shook her head. "Forgive me. Let's be on our way, Commander." She picked her head up, calling for the other Pegasus Knights to leave alongside her.

"Huh?" Cordelia said, lowering her guard. "What was that about?" To say Skye's reaction was unexpected would be an understatement. If anything, she expected much worse.

"Hey," Chrom said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Oh, hey Chrom," Cordelia said, looking up at the prince. "What do you mean by that?"

"That's the girl who bullied you back then, right?" he said, watching as Skye and the other knights entered the mess tent. "At least, that's my guess."

"Yeah, actually," Cordelia said. "Well, she wasn't the only one, but she was the one who led the bullying."

"I'm still sorry that you had to deal with it. I really wish I was there to help you out." Chrom turned his head back to her, letting out a sigh from his lips.

"Hey, I said it was okay, remember? You're here now." Cordelia took his hand and held it in hers. "Come on, how about we train together?" She could use anything to keep her mind off of the Pegasus Knights right now.

"Sure," Chrom said, curling up a smile as he shook her hand. "Are you gonna come with us, Freddy?"

"I have other things to attend to," Frederick said as he held a raised hand in refusal. "I'll see you both shortly."

"I guess it's just us then." Chrom shrugged, waving him off as they walked away.

* * *

Cordelia defended herself from a flurry of Chrom's strikes, dodging out of the way before following up with a jab aimed for his chest. Chrom deflected her strike, lifting her sword up and pushing her back.

"Come on, give me everything you've got!" Chrom said as he rushed down at her with a lunge. She dodged to the side again only for him to kick off the ground, striking at her head. She grinded her teeth as she just barely ducked underneath his slash, lifting her blade up as Chrom pushed his down on hers. It was a struggle to keep her balance between the twisted position she was in and the sand shifting at her feet, but she wasn't about to lose to anyone. She placed her other hand on her crossguard and pushed back, twisting her body even more as she searched for the perfect angle.

"This is _my_ victory!" She stepped back, shifting their blades around as she dropped a hand and aimed it at him. A blast of wind fired forth and struck Chrom in his side, shocking him and knocking him back. She fired two more at his face and chest before running at him and smacking him in the face, bringing him to the sand.

"Hey, come on!" Chrom said. He pushed himself onto his knees as he coughed out the sand that got in his mouth. "Using magic in a sparring match?"

"You said give me everything you've got. Plus you also said anything goes, so..." Cordelia smirked as she sat beside him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've been hit with worse," Chrom said, taking a seat. "You're lucky that you can use magic, though. I can't even do it at all."

"You can't use magic?" Cordelia said.

"Yeah, I can't. It just explodes on me!" he said, bringing his hands together. "Watch!"

"You don't have to prove it to me!" Cordelia quickly grabbed his hands and pushed them back down. "Dear gods, what kind of dork tries to demonstrate an explosion?"

She rolled her eyes and laughed, inching closer to him. "Let's just get that face healed up. I probably whacked you too hard," she said, bringing a hand to his left cheek. A white light shone from her palm, travelling all the way to the other side of his body.

"Thanks, Cordie," Chrom said, rubbing his cheek. "And how's your leg?"

"Way better than earlier, really," she said, patting her leg. "I've been getting a lot of help from Maribelle and Liz." By now it was all healed up from the injuries she received, so she'd have no issue when the time came for the next battle.

"Manspawns, I've returned." Panne called out, appearing under the red sun as she reached the outskirts of the campsite.

"Panne, you're back?" Chrom said, getting up and walking up to her. "Where's Reflet and Gaius?"

"They had their own business to take care of, and sent me away to tell you that we've found a new place to relocate to. I say we head out now."

"I see, that sounds excellent," Chrom said, looking back at Cordelia. "Let's get everyone mobile."

Cordelia nodded in response, and it wasn't before long that all the Shepherds were rounded up. With every tent, barrel and crate packed, the whole group marched once again, stepping out of the desert sands and eventually onto the sandstone road that led into Doluna.

* * *

Chrom stood beside his friends as they reached a large, square building hidden within Doluna's outer city. A candle lantern hung right beside the door, dimly glowing in the early hours of moonlight.

"I believe this is the place we're using as our base from now on," Frederick said.

"Then let's go in," Chrom said, stepping up the steps and knocking on a wooden door with a small window built into it. The window opened as a man peeked out of it, his eyes squinted and narrow.

"Hello sir," the person said. "The inn's closed right now, but we still do food. What would you like from the menu?"

"Carrot soup, but no potatoes," Chrom said, raising his finger as he tried to remember what else he needed to say. "And I'll take a pound of nuts."

He inched his head to the right and whispered to the other three behind him. "That's the password, right?"

"Yeah?" Liz whispered back. "I think."

"That's a lot of nuts, sir." The man shut the window and started undoing the locks behind the door. "Okay, you can come in now."

He pushed the iron door open, revealing himself to be none other than Kellam. His shirt and pants were nothing else but black, sticking out when lit by the warm light behind him.

"Kellam?" Chrom said. "When did you get here?"

"Gaius and Reflet asked me to come over here and act as lookout a while earlier."

"They did? But I never saw you leave the camp."

"Yeah, that's exactly why I'm the lookout." Kellam's chuckle was quick and sardonic as he pushed the door all the way open with his back. "Come on, get inside."

"Good," Liz said, stepping in front of everyone. "I'm tired of having to carry these bags." She dropped the bag of beans in her hands onto the floor and then took a seat on the first sofa she saw.

Putting his own bags down, Chrom followed her inside and looked around the dusky, L-shaped room. It looked like there was enough space to move around freely, and though the ceiling was low, it was not stiflingly so. The floor was made of a dark, soft-looking red carpet with white edges. And sitting on top of it were dark, wooden tables and chairs that looked inexpensive but well put together. It almost reminded him of the barracks, though the barracks didn't have a liquor bar along the side of one of the inner walls.

Sitting at the bar table were Gaius and a well-built man in his forties. They were drinking out of their glasses when they took notice of Chrom's group entering.

"Blue, how do you do?" Gaius said, putting his glass down. "Sup everyone, we got back not too long ago ourselves."

"Hi guys!" Chrom heard Reflet say. She peeped her head out from the seat behind Gaius, waving at them as she closed the book in her other hand.

"So this is our hideout?" Chrom said, giving the room a second glance. "I kind of like it. I was expecting something like our campsite back in the desert."

"It just seemed like a good time to call in a favor, what with saving the Exalt and all," Gaius said, nodding and pointing at the guy sitting in front of him. "By the way, this guy's the friend of the owner. He's the one who I set this whole thing up with."

The flax-haired man brought his glass forward, bringing it back as he drank the rest of his alcohol. "Name's Reese," he said, setting the glass down and getting out of his seat. "Listen, I'm only in charge while the owner's off on a business venture. Just don't break anything, kay?"

"He means you, Milord," Frederick said, earning chuckles from Liz and Cordelia.

"Oh come on, Freddy," Chrom said, groaning. "I swear I won't break anything."

"I'll take your word for it," Reese said. "Is that everyone you're bringing? I was prepared for like twenty-or-so people."

"We decided it'd be best to split into smaller groups and arrive one group at a time so that we'd have a better chance avoiding the guards," Chrom said.

"Well alright then." Reese refilled his glass with another round of alcohol from the light-brown bottle sitting on the table. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't filled in on what the Prince of Ylisse is planning to do here in enemy territory, but I'm here for it. If you all are gonna try to rescue the Exalt from the Plegian King, then the least I can do is help where I can."

He gave Chrom his hand, who accepted it with a handshake.

"You've already been a massive help, Mr. Reese," Chrom said. "This hideout is already more than we could ask."

"Of course," Reese said. He rubbed his lower neck and gave it a cracking as he went behind the bar counter. "The bunks upstairs are all freshened up. You'll have to buy your own food, but you're free to use whatever's in the kitchen as long as you wash it."

"Thank you," Cordelia said as she walked over to sit next to Chrom. "We'll make sure to tell the others."

Yet with one whiff of the air, she reeled backwards, covering her nose and stepping back from all of them.

"Eww, look at yourselves," she said, pointing at Gaius and Reflet. "You both are covered in dust, and you smell really bad."

"Huh?" Reflet said. She brought her arms up, looking at all the dirt that browned her white clothes. "Oh, I guess you're right."

"Yeah? Well, that's the price you pay if you stick out in the Dust Ring for too long," Gaius remarked. Compared to Reflet, his whole body was covered in even more dirt and sand hidden in his black gear. "It's kind of hard not to get dust on you when people are passing in and out of the mines all the time."

"Go take baths," Cordelia snipped, sticking her nose up. "Especially you, Gaius. You smell like melted candy."

"Now that you mention it, I smell it too." Chrom sniffed the air before he winced himself. "Eugh, yeah, you two should really take baths right now."

"Wow, okay Mom and Dad. I was going to do it anyways. I was just checking in with Captain over here first." Gaius shrugged and turned around, waving for Reflet to follow him up the staircase near the end of the room.

"Come on, Cream, let's hit the showers."

"Yeah, I guess we should." Reflet left the book she was reading on the bar table, heading up the steps after him.

"So now what?" Liz asked.

Cordelia shrugged at her, then looked to Chrom. "Maybe we should check the rest of this place out?"

"Sure, let's do it," Chrom said. The three of them went up the staircase that led to the second floor, settling themselves in what would be their base for the next few weeks.

* * *

Was this the right bathroom? She didn't see any signs or anything of the sort in front of the doorway. Reflet entered inside to find a steamy room with nothing but two benches on either side. The steam looked to be coming from a doorway at the end of the room, one which led into another corridor towards the left. Was that where the baths were?

"It should be," she said to herself, heading down the corridor. With a turn of the corner, she found herself in front of a spacious pool big enough to fit a whole group of people. With its clear waves of hot water passing one another and the steam enveloping the room, this must've been it. But why was it so big for just one person?

That's when she heard a strange humming coming from her left. She turned to see Gaius already in the bath, scrubbing at his bare back.

"Wait, huh?" Reflet said. But Gaius didn't seem to notice her at all while he hummed to his heart's content, even as he turned around and started scrubbing his right arm. Between each pass of his soaped-up scrubber, a black mark revealed itself on his wrist. It was a small, black sword, running diagonally and pointing towards his chest.

"A veil falls away without a…" Gaius stopped singing as he finally met her eyes. "Wha– hey!" He jolted backwards, water splashing with his step. Bringing his hand in front of his face, he winced and gasped not a moment after as he hid the mark underneath his other hand.

"What are you doing?" he shouted.

"Huh?" Reflet said, her eyes trailing downward. " _Huh_?!"

"Ah, double-crap!" Gaius lifted himself out of the pool and ran into a doorway different from the one she entered from. He returned within seconds, running back onto the granite-tiled floor as he wrapped and wrapped a black scarf of silk around his wrist. Tightly pulling the ends and swiftly tying it all together, Gaius hissed as he brought his hand to his waist, just above his new pair of black shorts.

"Welp, this is awkward." The blushing ginger avoided eye contact with her as he spoke dryly. "Cream, isn't this the guys bathroom? I thought I was just going to be alone for a bit."

"Sorry, I thought this was the girls bathroom." Reflet blushed herself as she looked around the bath. "Is there another bath somewhere?"

"Hmm, then it looks like this is the only one. Figures." Gaius groaned and crossed his arms, turning to her. "Hey, you didn't see it, did you?"

"See what? Or rather, which one?" Reflet pulled her lip to the side as she covered her face. "That mark on your wrist, or your, umm… stuffy stuff?"

"Ahh, triple-crap." Narrowing his eyes, Gaius dipped his head and rubbed the back of it. "I meant the mark, Cream, but yes, that too. Also, is that what you call crotches?" He looked up at her, snorting out a breath. "Kinda funny in a strange way."

"Wait, what's a crotch?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Seriously?" he said. "Huh, I didn't think there'd ever come a time where I had to explain this."

He moved closer to her, whispering something in her ear.

" _Oh_ , now I get it." So those were what crotches were.

"Anyways, since you've already seen it once, I guess it can't hurt if I give you a closer look. I don't wanna lose sleep fretting over whether you've seen it or not." Gaius bent down and undid the knot around his wrist, bringing it forward and showing it to Reflet.

"See this?" he said, pointing to the mark. "Know what it is?"

Now that Reflet could get a better look at the mark, she could see all the little details within it. The hilt of the sword consisted of a simple yet detailed grip alongside a forked crossguard, and its blade was thin, long and sharp as a rapier. But it didn't look like any sword she'd ever seen before.

"Nuh-uh," she said. "What is it?"

"It's called a Mark of Reprisal."

"Mark of Reprisal?" Reflet tilted her head. "Is it like Chrom's Mark?"

"Hah, I wish. Then at least something good could come out of getting this thing." Gaius rolled his eyes, getting back on his feet.

"Say, why are we just standing around doin' nothin'?" he said, heading over to the edge of the pool. "Let's get into the bath already." He slipped back into the water, putting his back to the wall as he relaxed in the steamy pool.

"Come on, Reflet, get in here!" Gaius said, winking at her. "And keep your clothes on, this place is already steamy as it is."

"Ah— hey!" Reflet's cheeks reddened as she crossed her arms. Still, he was right. They both needed a bath, and she'd rather keep her clothes on around him, or anyone else for that matter.

And so she walked over to the pool's edge and lowered herself next to Gaius. As the hot waves reached just below her knees, she let out a long sigh as she sat down and wrapped her arms around her legs. With how warm and pleasant her entire body felt, only now did she realize how exhausted she'd been from the heat of the desert and city. Oh, what she wouldn't do to have her hood again so she could hide away from the scathing sun.

"So, what's with that Mark?" Reflet said, looking back to Gaius.

"Right, I was getting to it," Gaius said. "Like I was saying, this mark is nothing but trouble. The only people who have this mark are criminals who're foolish enough to get themselves thrown in jail. And even then, they're only handed out to those who've committed grave crimes against Ylisse, or so they say."

"Oh, wow," she said, raising her finger. "So then how did you get that mark, Gaius?"

"I got into a bit of bad business, if you get what I mean. It was supposed to be a get-in, get-out heist with nothing going wrong. At least until my employers, as I'll call them, decided to pull a fast one on me. One of them called the guards as I was still collecting the loot, and you can probably make out how the rest of that story went."

"You got sent to jail?"

Gaius nodded his head. "Uh-huh. Spent a solid five months there growing up, and it would've been at least twenty years if I stayed like I was supposed to."

"If you were supposed to stay, then how'd you get out of there?"

Gaius looked down at the water they sat in. "I guess the answer to that is Queenie. As the months went on inside those walls, I pretty much gave up whatever remaining belief I had in those fancy blue-blood nobles. At least that was what I thought until she showed up. One day she randomly visited me in my cell, saw me lying down on the ground and asked me why I was in there."

"And you told her what happened?" Reflet asked.

Gaius nodded his head again. "I'm not exactly sure why I did it when I did. Maybe it was because unlike those nobles that dragged me into that mess, she had nothing to hide. Or maybe it was because she was the only one who actually asked why I was in there in the first place. She just seemed… different to me. Like maybe she was someone I could trust. So I guess that's why I told her everything. About how my employers forced me to break into the vault, and then how they framed me and then made me frame someone else."

Reflet lifted her hand off her knee and scratched her cheek. "And the one you framed was Maribelle's father, wasn't it?"

Gaius gasped. He straightened his back, lurching forwards as he narrowed his eyes. "Hey, how'd you figure that out?"

"Maribelle said the same thing back at the palace," she said. She may have still been in shock when the attack on the palace took place, but she still remembered it.

"Well aren't you clever?" Gaius scoffed, smirking as he crossed his arms. "Yeah, a couple of weeks after I got thrown in jail, my 'employers' made me pin the blame on the poor guy. I didn't really have much of a choice given what they would've done if I refused. So I went along with it, 'said to the judge that her dad was the one who made me steal from the vault. Of course, that was before Emmeryn came into the picture."

"What happened then?"

"Well, the first thing she did was get straight to work getting me out of there. Come two months later, a letter was given to the judge just before the gavel was banged for Twinkle's father's trial. And then the day after that, I was given amnesty to run free. But not completely free."

Gaius huffed, grabbing his forearm and raising his mark to her once more. "The guards gave me this Mark when I first went to jail. I have to hide it from people, otherwise they'll assume the worst out of me."

Reflet frowned, shaking her head. "I don't think you're the worst just because of that mark though. You're a very good person."

"Heh, you know you're telling that to a guy who's made a living out of stealing, right?" Though he made a bemused snort, he also put on a smile at the same time. "Still, it does feel good to hear someone say that."

"Well, you do steal stuff, but you also do good things. You're helping us out, right? And you're trying to save Emmeryn like she saved you. It's thanks to you and Panne that we not only got what we needed from the palace, but we even got to see her ourselves."

"Well, thanks, for your thanks." Gaius looked towards the ceiling. "A good thief? You're probably one of the only two people to tell me that. So, thank you, Cream."

He wrapped the scarf back around his arm, tying the ends once again.

"Of course," Reflet said, warmly smiling back at him.

They finished their conversation just in time to hear a loud yell coming in from the doorway Gaius came in from.

"Incoming!"

Vaike hurriedly ran into the bathroom in nothing but a pair of black shorts. He stomped as he charged into the low pool, splashing water in their faces.

Reflet giggled as she shielded her face with her hands. "Vaike!"

"Hey, come on!" Gaius said, doing the same.

"Sup guys!" Vaike said, sitting down next to them. "Why are you in the guys bathroom, Reflet?"

"Turns out this place has only one bathroom that we all gotta share," Gaius said.

"Is that so? Eh, whatever. I ain't ashamed of my body." Vaike grabbed the bar of soap and started washing his back.

"Have you guys checked this place out?" he asked.

"Nope, we haven't," Reflet said. "We just got back right before Chrom."

"Well come on, then! Let's clean ourselves up and get out of here!" Vaike said. "Don't you wanna enjoy yourselves after being stuck walking in that dry-ass desert?"

"He does have a point. Let's wrap this up, Cream," Gaius said.

Reflet smiled, getting to work on cleaning herself up. "Sure."

* * *

After all the bustling noise they'd dealt with at the coastline and within the desert, this amount of silence seemed almost out of place by comparison. The only things that reached his ears was the quiet, inaudible conversation his sister and Maribelle shared as they flicked the top cards of their decks with every draw. That, and the sound of his best friend tapping her finger upon the table in front of them as she read through this week's reports, alongside the light shuffling of his retainer's armor as he leaned his back on the wall near the door's entrance.

He'd sat himself down in the brown armchair situated right in the center of the room. Running his arms along the armrests, he could feel how soft and fine the old leather was. Vintage, that was the word to use to describe it. It's not like he didn't know such words like vintage and the like. After all, he did study these things when he was younger. Although he wouldn't claim to have the strongest vocabulary, either.

"Is something on your mind, Chrom?" Cordelia stopped her tapping, lifting her eyes up to his.

"Yes, Milord. You know that if there is anything you need, I'll be of immediate service to you." Frederick walked over to the table, raising his blue gauntlet to his chest.

"It's fine, thank you." Chrom refused him with a hand, lowering it as he brought his hands together above his legs. He was fine. He just needed a moment to think to himself. Now that he'd checked the place out and he and his friends picked this room as the one they'd use for their plans, things finally started to slow down enough to grant him that.

Now the day was over, that meant there was one less day to save Emmeryn. Chrom dug his middle finger into the midsection between his knuckles as he reminded himself of what was coming next. All he could do right now was wait for Reflet and Gaius to finish their baths so that they could report back to him.

So he'd wait.

"Hey, Sir, and everyone else too." Donny waved at them as he stepped halfway into the room. "Mind if I come in? What's going on here?"

"This place came with a pair of decks for a card game, so we're playing that," Liz said as she drew a card with a green border from her card deck. She placed it down on the field, before removing the orange card on Maribelle's side of the field.

"And thanks to Lightning Vortex, that's a win," she added as she tapped on one of her own cards. She then pointed to Maribelle, clutching her hand as she cheered silently.

Maribelle furled her brows as she looked up at Liz. "What blasted card was that?" she argued, biting her lip. "I thought only your opponent's monsters were allowed to destroy monsters of your own."

"You have a lot to learn about this game, my dear Maribelle." Liz grabbed her cheek and rubbed it teasingly with her palm, reddening Maribelle's cheeks as she grumbled and slid it away with a finger.

"Then it seems that I must learn the proper techniques for this game, but strictly so that I can reclaim my pride," Maribelle said, putting her hands on her hips. "I only lost so easily because I've yet to know the rules of the game."

"Sure-sure." Liz snorted as she waved her hand around. "Wanna have a turn, Donny?"

"A turn?" Donny said, sitting on the floor next to Maribelle. "Sure, this game seems fun."

"Alright, then come take Maribelle's deck," Liz said, picking up all her cards on the field before shuffling them back into her deck.

"Why must he take it from me?" Maribelle asked.

"Because you lost," Liz said as she stuck a tiny bit of her tongue at her. "Losers gotta give it up."

"Those are the rules when we gotta take turns, Maribelle," Cordelia said, taking her eyes off her papers before returning back to them.

"Hmph, fine then," Maribelle said, crossing her arms. "Just make sure you lose so I can challenge her again."

"Seriously?" Donny put his hand on his head and laughed. "Sorry Maribelle, but I think you're gonna have to wait your turn."

"That's only if you win first," Liz said, drawing the first card. "Let's go."

Chrom looked at the three of them from his seat in his chair as a smile found its way onto his face. If they could enjoy themselves, then good. They deserved to be able to do that.

But now that things were starting to quiet down, it was getting hard for him to relax himself. He didn't really want to relax, either. That time spent relaxing could be used to plan ahead instead.

"Chrom, are you sure everything's alright?" Cordelia said, looking back at him with furled brows. "I can see something's up."

"It's just…"

"...It's still Emmeryn, isn't it?"

Cordelia put her papers down on the table and got out of her seat. She stepped over to his side, bringing her hand down to his shoulder. A long, soft sigh escaped from her lips as she kept her hand resting there.

Chrom looked up, reaching for her hand and touching it for himself. He never really noticed until now, but her hands were very soft, reminding him of silk in a way. Her nails were short as well, like his own.

He liked that they could do this now, instead of dealing with the total silence that used to be between them.

"Hey, we're back," Gaius said, walking into the room in a fresh black shirt with long-sleeves and a pair of grey pants.

"Mmhm," Reflet said as she followed behind him, sporting a long, blue shirt alongside her usual tights she wore in her off-days. "What's happening here?"

"We're playing a card game right now, care to watch?" Donny said, calling them over with his hand.

"Sure!" Reflet said, sitting down next to him as she stared at the spread of cards in his hand.

"Sweet," Gaius said, heading to them. "Can I watch you—"

There was a growl from Maribelle as she shot him a glare. Immediately he stepped back, raising both of his hands.

"Actually," Gaius said with a chuckle underneath his breath. He lifted his thumb, pointing to the kitchen three times. "Say, Cream, I'm gonna make some chocolate chip cookies. Want a couple?"

"Ooh, can I have one too, Gaius?" Donny asked.

"Me too!" Liz said. She reached forward and grabbed Maribelle's arm, raising it and her own into the air.

"And her too!" she added on.

"What?" Maribelled looked at her incredulously, then turned back to Gaius and scowled once again.

"...Fine. Just one is fine." Maribelle huffed a breath and returned to watching the game between Donny and Liz.

"Sure," Gaius said, looking left towards the kitchen. "I'll make a batch for everyone." With that, he headed downstairs, leaving them as he went to bake them.

"Say…" Donny said, mumbling something to himself as he placed a card on the field. He pulled out a coin, flipped and caught it, then pulled two cards from his deck. "This kind of reminds me of the first day me and Reflet joined you all."

"Really? How?" Liz asked.

"Well, we're all sitting around just like last time. We don't have a fire, sure, but the candles in here make the place feel nice and warm," Donny said as he raised his finger. "And we've got the same group that we had that day, too."

"Not exactly," Maribelle said. "I'm afraid that Cordelia and myself weren't with you all on that day."

"Yeah, you can't count them out." Liz stacked her hand of cards on top of each other and covered them as she scooted over to where Maribelle she wrapped her arms around Maribelle and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Now apologize to Maribelle and Cordie."

"Lissa!" Maribelle leaned back as she tried to take her arms off of her. "I told you not to do that!"

"What, kiss you on the cheek? I've kissed your cheeks plenty of times before. Like right now," Liz said as she kissed her cheek again, making Maribelel growl as she blushed even more.

"Hehah!" Donny grinned as he scratched the back of his head. "I guess you're right! Sorry gals, looks like we do have two more people than last time. But y'all get my point, right?"

All of a sudden there was a noticeable thud as a book dropped off the bookshelf next to the group of four.

"How on earth did that book fall off the shelf?" Liz said as she stopped teasing Maribelle, twisting her head towards the book.

Donny blinked his eyes as his mouth opened. "Uhh, gee, I really don't know." He chuckled, fanning the collar of his shirt. "Sure seems strange."

"Perhaps it was a ghost?" Maribelle said, raising her hand and smirking. "If there even could be ghosts in our world."

"Well, if it's a ghost, then maybe that ghost shouldn't be dropping stuff that doesn't belong to him," he said bluntly, sternly raising his voice near the end.

"Why would a ghost be hovering around us though?" Liz said, putting her hand under her chin. "Did it want us to notice it? That seems a bit weird."

"Wait, a ghost? But—"

Donny swiftly cut Reflet off. "Anyways, you know what else I noticed? The Shepherds' just been getting larger and larger. There weren't nearly as many people as when I first joined up as there are now."

"You're right," Liz said. "Now we have Lon'qu, Gregor, and way more people than that. How'd we get so big?"

"Beats me," Donny said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, I sure hope you don't mind if I add one more person to the party. Do you?"

"Wait a second," Chrom said, recognizing the low, woman's voice coming from behind him. He turned around to see none other than Khan Flavia herself, smiling as she stepped into the room.

"Flavia?" Chrom said, getting out of his seat. "How did you get in here?"

"If I may speak, Milord," Frederick said, chiming in. "I've been making arrangements for her arrival for quite some time now."

"It's as he says," Flavia said. "The Plegians didn't notice a thing when I slipped away from our base near the Midmire outskirts to head for Doluna. And don't worry about our main force, by the way. The oaf is still with them, keeping them ready for any possible battles."

"I see," Chrom said. "So then what brings you here? Have you come to help us?"

"Of course. As allies, it's best we work with one another and share information." Flavia crossed her arms. "Tell me, has Reflet here figured out how we're going to save the Exalt?"

"Well, have you Reflet?" Chrom asked. He was just about to ask the same thing.

"Yes, I did. Give me one moment please." Reflet nodded her head and pushed herself off the ground. She then left the room, returning shortly after with a paper in her hands as she looked up at the two of them.

"Emmeryn's execution is set for the 19th, in the courtyard of Gangrel's Castle," Reflet said, nodding her head again. "Before she can even fall, we're sending in the Pegasus Knights to swoop in and carry her while the Shepherds distract and buy time for them. Once they're in the clear, then we have to run away to meet up with Basilio's group who will arrive to escort us out of the city."

She handed the paper in her hands to Flavia. "And this here is the movement patterns of the Plegian Wyvern Knight squad. The Pegasus Knights will have just enough time to rescue her without having to deal with them, and that'll be our opening to strike."

"My-my, you've thought this out, haven't you?" Flavia scanned through the paper, then passed it to Chrom. "Good on you. You've done well."

"There's a few more things I need to work on, but thank you." Reflet giggled, lowering her head and scratching on her cheek. "I need to figure out the best way to distract Gangrel and his army, but I'll make sure everything is ready for when we have to save her."

"Your plans have brought us closer than we could've gotten otherwise," Chrom said to her. "I'll keep placing my trust in them, no matter how long it takes for you to finish them."

"Thanks Chrom," Reflet said, turning her neck around to face his sister. "But first, I need to tell Liz something."

"What is it, Reflet?" Liz said as she got up and went to her side. Gaius returned as she did so, quietly slipping past her. He put his hand on the table as he set down a hot plate of cookies, not wanting to interrupt whatever Reflet needed to say.

"No matter what, I need you to keep your Rescue staff with you at all times, okay?" Reflet put her hand on Liz's shoulder. "If anything goes wrong and the Pegasus Knights can't get to Emmeryn safely, then I need you to use it to pull her out of there. Can you do that for me?"

Liz's eyebrows raised before she lowered them back down, nodding her head with a grunt. "Depending on how far I am from her, my spell might not have enough range. But okay, I'll do everything I can."

"Thank you," Reflet said, letting go of Liz. She looked down at her feet, then placed a hand upon her chest.

"You know, when we were gone we also snuck into the castle," she said, now sounding quieter. "And when we did, we managed to see Emmeryn."

"Wait, you did?" Chrom said. He stepped forwards to stand closer to her. This was something he needed to hear.

"How is she?" Frederick said. He got off the wall he rested upon and walked up to Reflet just as he did.

"She's healthy at least," Gaius said, getting out of his seat and joining the conversation. "Tired, but you don't have to worry about her getting sick. Her cell's decent enough too, better than a lot of bedrooms really."

"Well, thank Naga she's doing alright at least," Chrom said, letting out a relieved sigh.

"Indeed," Frederick said. "I don't believe that there is a single one of us who would enjoy hearing that she is not faring well."

"Yeah, but what did she say though?" Liz said. "Did she say anything about us?"

Gaius inhaled softly, grabbing both of his wrists. "She asked that all of you stay strong no matter what happens. And that her death won't be the end."

"And to have hope as you look towards the future," Reflet added. "She said if you do that, then everything will turn out like it should."

Nobody said anything after they finished speaking. Not until Chrom did first.

"She shouldn't be saying those things," Chrom said. He clenched his fist, lifting it upwards. "It's not over, we can still get her back!"

"...Yeah!" Donny added. He walked up to the rest of them and raised his fist to his chest just like Chrom did. "That's exactly what we're here for! There ain't no road in Iris that'll lead to her dying on us!"

"I agree," Maribelle said, standing up. "Surely she cannot be giving up so quickly, right? She must be mistaken. No, your sister knows very well that I am not one to make empty promises. If I make a promise that I would rescue her, then I will deliver on said promise no matter what."

"What you're all saying is what I told her, basically," Gaius said, tilting his head left. "But she didn't let it stop her from saying what was on her mind. Guess she's just like that."

"That does seem like something she would say," Frederick said, lowering his eyes. He crossed his arms, before coughing into his gauntlet. "As someone who's known her for most of my life, I understand why she would say such a thing. On such matters like this, Her Grace was not one to underestimate the possibility of things going awry. As much as it could pain her loved ones, she'd rather leave these things said than unsaid."

"Yeah, talking to her just now taught me that very quickly," Gaius said.

"But just because she's prepared for the worst doesn't mean the worst has to happen," Chrom said.

"Of course it won't," Frederick said, his brows lowered and his jaw tight. "She's the most important person there is to the kingdom and to her family. Since the day I became a knight, I've made it my sworn duty to protect her at all costs. It is on my honor when I say that as her knight, I will put my life on the line to make sure she stays alive."

"I'm no knight, but a Feroxi always pays their debts," Flavia said, putting her hand underneath her chin. "Even when our knuckles are broken and bloodied, we'll drag her back and put her right back on that throne."

"I don't care what it takes, there's no way in hell we're going to let her just die like this!" Chrom said. "I'm not letting my sister die!"

"I know, and I won't let her die either," Reflet said, folding her arms. "She also asked if we were surrendering, and I told her no. But… what if we should instead?"

"She wants us to surrender to Gangrel?" That sure sounded like his sister alright. Chrom took a deep breath and closed his eyes, digging his nails even further as he scratched at his palm.

"There's no way we're doing that," he said as he opened his eyes back up. "That bastard can kiss the end of my sword before I surrender to him!"

"But nobody would have to die, though!" Reflet argued. "Wouldn't they? Emmeryn wouldn't have to risk her life, and no one else would have to either!"

"Reflet, I know you're very kind, but I need you to understand something very important." Chrom raised his hand towards her. "Gangrel is a man who can never be trusted. You know what he's done. This is the man that's wanted nothing more than to drag us into this war. Why else would he send soldiers to raid our villages and lie about it? Why else would he kidnap my friend and provoke us into fighting him so we could save her life? There's no surrendering when the other side is ruled by a man like him."

"Your leader is right, how could we trust him?" Flavia turned her whole body towards Reflet. "Remember what he's done so far. There's no way an assassination and two kidnappings can go off back-to-back out of sheer coincidence. Some mastermind had to be pulling the strings somewhere; who else but him? Besides, who's to say he won't play dirty and kill Emmeryn when we surrender? Or what if he decides to kill all of us instead, earning a swift victory against the two countries he's fighting? We wouldn't want to go down in history as the victims of another Belhallan Massacre, would we?"

"And to add to that," Frederick said, "even if we do surrender, the odds of things turning out well seem unlikely to be in our favor. Through the Queensfang, he'll have even more power than he already does, and he'll have even more if he manages to recover the Fire Emblem. Challenging him would be an ever-increasing ordeal, where we would have less a chance of taking him down the longer we take to strike against him. We don't know what will come out of surrendering, but none of it will be good. It is better to strike now while we can still take the shot."

"I…" Reflet struggled to get her words out, before she went completely silent. She turned away from all of them, making a small exhale in resignation.

"...I understand, all of you."

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Reflet." Chrom looked away from her as he walked back to his seat and sat in it. Fighting, no, killing wasn't easy, and no one out there ever wants to do it.

But he'll be damned if he was going to let Gangrel trample over his people, his country. He'll be damned if he lets his sister die.

There's no way he'd ever let that happen.

Fourteen more days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya-Hiya! Author here!
> 
> Remember, if you wanna read more Fire Emblem Fics, check out the Fanfiction Treehouse Discord! The invite code is: /9XG3U7a
> 
> Can you believe we're at 20 chapters now? I guess you could say we've come a long way. After all, it has been almost a year of writing this fic since when I first started in December. And it's gotten long! ~200k words, which I'm not sure if that's good or bad.
> 
> I have had so much fun writing this story. Everything from Lucina joining early (and leaving too soon sadly). To Chrom being a sweet dummy. Cordelia getting close to a sweet dummy. And especially Donny and that nutty dragon-ghost who crashes on his brain-couch. That one was the hardest to sell, but I feel I did a decent job with introducing him and their dynamic.
> 
> This chapter was rather tough to get out. School's been keeping me busy, which makes writing much slower. I'm very happy with everything in it though! I only had to cut out one scene in which Cordie, Liz and Chrom were leaving the desert. The only key thing was that they'd mention the name of the desert, the Lir Desert. So uhh, now you know the name. (Unless I change it later.)
> 
> To be honest, I'm very happy with the last scene in particular. It was just a bunch of different perspectives and people coming together and arguing together. This was one I've been stirring on for months now, so I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted it to go down.
> 
> It's been quite a while since Lucina left, hasn't it? Almost an entire 8 chapters, and long ones, too. I actually didn't plan on having Lucina leave the group until I started writing the scene where she was about to leave. It was a toss up between her staying because Reflet convinced her, or her leaving because of what she already had planned. In the end, the latter won out. I would have liked to have had her stay with the Shepherds, but I actually didn't know what I'd do with her if she did. She'd be able to get closer to her family though, of course. And she'd have a Reflet to keep her company. But by having her leave, I just had a lot more space to set up the story beats I wanted. Like, for example, I had more space to develop Donny, Gregor and Nowi, and I got to write Reflet doing things on her own. In the end, I'd consider this a good change to the story.
> 
> So now we're finally at Ch.9 Awakening, "Emmeryn." I've absolutely loved developing Emmeryn as a character and I hope you've had a blast reading her. Now it's time to bring everything together as we get ready for the final stretch of the first arc of Awakening!
> 
> Get ready for Chapter 21: "The Fading of Light!"


	21. The Fading of Light - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author: Buckle up! We've got one of the longest chapters yet! It actually got so long that I had to split this one into a three parter to make it easier to read! And it may be the very last hours before Tikimas ends, but you know what? Whatever, we're posting now! Happy Birthday Reflet! (And Happy Late-Birthday Emmeryn!) 
> 
> Grab some snacks, put on your favorite soundtracks and enjoy the show!

_ April 17th, _

Hidden away in the depths of the Black Rose Castle, nothing stood out in the prisons below. Not when the light that reigned over the desert fell down to the earth and its jack rose to take its place, illuminating the dusky, deserted cells built of iron and stone. Despite its purpose to hold prisoners and those captured from war, the castle lower prisons hardly saw any real use nowadays.

So there was hardly anything within, both inside the long stretch of bars and outside of them in the open, tiled hallway. Hardly anything, save for the moonlight that shined in from the grated windows. Hardly anything, save for the scrape of the wall being scratched by a rock rhythmically with each hit.

_ Scrape. Crack. Scrape. Scrape.  _

_ Crack. _

_ Scrape. Scrape.  _

_ Crack. _

"Hey! Stop banging on that wall!"

He tilted his wrist forward, his rock now touching both his fingers and the stone bed beneath him. He sighed, waiting for the click of the guard's footsteps to reach him.

"Jeez, can't you just stay quiet?" The guard's face carried nothing but disgust for him as he stared him down. "Look at you. You've got no one left around you. You've hit the rockiest rock bottom out there, and you're still thinking you can make everyone listen to your shitty music? How much did you have tonight that turned you into the fool you are now?"

He glared at the guard who crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, when a set of steps came down from the staircase in front of them on the far end of the hall.

"Hey, shift's over. I can take it from here." The new shift-guard flicked the top of his cap, using his spear as a walking stick as he approached the two of them.

"Good, I'm tired as it is. I'd rather be anywhere else but here." The guard turned back to the prison cell and snarled at him. He kept his eyes locked on him even as he walked away, still carrying that same disgust.

The new shift-guard chuckled as he came over to the prison bars, leaning down and staring closely at his face.

"Hey Blue," he said. "Whatcha got goin' on?"

Chrom lurched forward and slipped off the bed, getting on his two feet. As dark as it was, the green eyes and ginger hair were a dead giveaway that he was Gaius.

"Looks like we're both in position right now," Gaius said. "I swiped this spear and guard outfit while nobody was looking. Now nobody should have a problem with me walking around this place."

"And everyone else?" he asked him. "They didn't get arrested as well, did they?"

"We all got back home without a hitch. Just took a bit of running and leading the others down the right alleyways."

Gaius reached for the bag tied to his belt and opened it up. "Here, I snagged some stuff from the kitchen. Figured you'd be hungry right now, and if you aren't then you might as well enjoy yourself."

Chrom took the bag from him, dumping it on the corner of the bed just behind his pillow and blanket. Down came a pile of wrapped bread, a block of ham, candies and a red apple. He unwrapped the bread dug in, quelling his growling stomach.

"Thank you, I needed that," Chrom said, scarfing down the sweet-salty ham as he picked up the apple. It crunched as he chomped into it, its juice sweet on his tongue. Gods, he should've eaten more before he went through with the plan, but eating then might've made it hard to keep it down and not lose his lunch.

"No problem. Just be sure to hide it from the guards. I'll sneak more food to you in a few more hours." Gaius pressed his thumb on his cheek and laughed. "But man, you pulled some wild stuff tonight. When Reflet said you needed to get yourself thrown in jail, I didn't think that was gonna be your first pick."

"What? Getting barely drunk and starting a fight at a gay bar?" Chrom finished the apple as he started burning through the candies, shoving two of them into his mouth at a time. "It seemed like the quickest way to get here. I didn't wanna steal from anyone, either. And to be fair, the fact we stumbled into a gay bar was sheer coincidence."

"Fair point," Gaius said as he shrugged. "Are you gonna be okay being down here until it's time to move?"

"Well I'm here now, aren't I? Even if I wasn't ready, there's no backing down now," he said. "Besides, one day in prison is nothing if it'll bring us closer to saving my sister."

"If you say so," Gaius said. "Just make sure not to get yourself in any extra trouble."

Another set of footsteps came from the staircase behind the two of them. Gaius snapped his head around, already on alert.

"Wait, someone's coming! Act like we weren't talking!"

He pulled down on his red cap as he walked over to the cell across from Chrom. He cleared his throat, holding his spear steady as the footsteps came down the steps.

"Ugh, why on earth am I being dragged down here at this hour?"

Chrom knew exactly who that annoyed voice belonged to. Taking his seat again, he leaned his back on the wall and grabbed his rock, striking it again on the wall.

_ Crack. _

The person strode down the staircase and through the hall. Scratching up and down his sideburns, he stopped in his tracks as he turned to Gaius. 

"Hey, what's up?" he said, crossing his arms. "Why am I being called downstairs while I'm in the middle of a meeting?"

"We found him drunk and starting fights in a bar. I think it's best you look at him yourself, Your Majesty," Gaius said, using his finger to point into Chrom's cell.

Gangrel scoffed. "I don't know why you guards never give it to me straight, but whatever. I'll take a look at whoever's in this cell, but it'd better make up for the lost time."

He turned to the cell, walking right up to it. "I swear, all I'm gonna do is wrap everything up tonight, and then I'm gonna drop dead." He snorted, folding his arms once again. "Keheh, drop de—"

"Oh. Ohhhhh." The red-headed bastard came into the rays of moonlight, the grin on his face stretching from ear to ear.

"Well isn't this just a pleasant surprise?" Gangrel said as a cackle escaped him. "Just when I was wondering where you and your little group ran off to, you turn up half-wasted and on a silver platter! Hah!"

Chrom looked him dead in the eyes. Just the sight of the man laughing at him was enough for him to squeeze his rock hard enough as if to crush it.

"So where are your little friends, anyways?" Gangrel brought his hands forward and rolled his fingers like he was playing a piano. "Did you drink too hard after your sister was kidnapped and decided it'd be a good idea to ditch your kingdom? Let me guess, you thought you could sneak into my capital alone, drunk and sword ablaze, and take me down before execution day comes along? Hah! That'll make for a fun song and dance! We'll get all the children and bards singin' about what's happening two days from now!"

_ A song and dance that'll end with my sword at your neck. _ As much as he wanted to say that to his face, he bit those words back. Right now he needed to play his cards carefully until it was time. When Emmeryn was in sight and the Pegasus Knights were on the way. Even just staying as silent as possible would be enough to get through the two more nights necessary.

"I was honestly expecting an out-and-out assault on the capital if anything, not a drunken fool in jail! But whatever, I'll take it! I guess I can tell my Wyvern General to stay and watch while his guards patrol the east border. Cause we don't need to worry about spotting you anymore!" Gangrel turned around as he stretched out his hands. "And I should tell Aversa that a surprise guest is scheduled to appear, too!"

He let out another cackle as he walked out of the prison. With one foot on the first step of the staircase, he shot one final glance at Chrom as his grin widened once again. "Oh, this is just so rich! You seriously screwed up big time, Prince!"

Watching him leave, Chrom exhaled deeply as he hit the wall again. The bastard could enjoy himself all he wanted. It didn't matter to him.

He had one goal and one goal only. He wasn't about to throw his one shot away.

_ Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.  
  
_

* * *

"Are you sure he needs to go through with this?" Cordelia said, waiting for Reflet to finish taking her sip from the mug between her hands.

Reflet swallowed the juice that filled her cheeks, setting the mug down on the bar table. "I asked him the same thing, but he still said that he would go through with it. While staying completely undetected might give us the upper hand, having Chrom get himself thrown in jail like this will lower Gangrel's guard. Even if he knows Chrom is here, if Chrom comes alone and unarmed like this, then he'll be less likely to expect the rest of us to appear and for a battle to break out. And this way, Chrom will also have a better chance at buying extra time for the Pegasus Knights. We need to make sure Emmeryn won't fall too soon after Gangrel makes his speech, and Chrom will be able to control that if he can distract him by making him talk long enough."

"I understand all that, and I know he would go through with it, but…" Cordelia looked away, her hands tightly wrapped around her arms. "What if he gets hurt while he's in prison? Or what if something goes wrong and he gets hurt because he put himself right next to Gangrel?"

The thought of him getting seriously hurt started to weigh on her heart. Him doing this was important, and saving Emmeryn even moreso, but she just couldn't stop herself from worrying for him. Chrom was a sweet, wonderful and kind prince. He deserved to be happy, not to have his sister taken from him and be put to death. He didn't deserve any of this.

She kept thinking and thinking, and so too did her face get warmer and warmer. Brushing her cheek with a hand, she let a sigh escape her lips as she realized how much she really was fretting and blushing over him. Just like she'd done so months before, and like she said she wouldn't anymore for the sake of their friendship. Even though she told herself that she'd set aside her feelings for him, and even as it seemed like she was making grounds, saying something like that wasn't as easy as doing it. Especially whenever she worried about him or stared at him, that's when her feelings flooded back with all their strength.

And lately her feelings seemed like they had changed somehow. When she first fell for him, her love was weightless and free. Like the very pegasus she rode upon, just speaking to him made her feel like she flew and glided in the sky. It had been that way until just recently, somewhere during the time they went to Ferox. Though she couldn't pinpoint it to a perfect moment.

But ever since then, it started to feel less like she was flying and more like she was staring at the bottom of a lake. A deep lake, dark and black whose waves swirled against each other. And the deeper she looked into it, the less and less clear it became.

She didn't know what was hiding at the bottom. A part of her felt scared to know.

Would she really be able to keep her feelings in check? And what if she couldn't? What if she screwed something up and they'd stop talking all over again? As anxious as she got whenever they talked, being able to just be around him was something she missed. To lose that again, to lose him again…

_ It's not like he ever actually liked being around you. Just stop fooling yoursel— _

Closing her eyes and quickly shaking her head, Cordelia tried to push the intrusive thought out of her mind before it could take root. Now wasn't the time to think like that. Especially now, when so many more important things were at hand.

"Cordie, are you okay?" Reflet asked.

"Huh?" Cordelia said. She lifted her head up to see the girl staring at her with worry in her eyes.

"You're worried about him, aren't you?" she continued.

"...Yeah." Cordelia lowered her eyes, unsure what to say.

"Remember Cordie, Chrom is strong, just like you. And we do have a way to get him out of there if it looks like something bad might happen to him."

Reflet got out of her seat and wrapped her arms around Cordelia's waist from the side. "I know you care about him a lot, and I do too. But he himself said that he would do everything in his power to bring Emmeryn back. And we're going to do what we can to help him and make sure he comes back safe, too." 

Cordelia sighed another time as she brought a hand to her chest. "Thank you, Reflet. Yeah, you're right. He's strong."

Chrom's been fighting for as long as she has, and he was one of the best Shepherds they had, if not the best outside of a few potential others. If he put his mind to it, he would be able to lead them to victory and make it out of there in one piece.

Placing her trust in the Reflet's words, Cordelia took a deep breath, calming herself down.

"Are you ready to head out, now?" Reflet said, climbing back onto her seat. "You've gotta go see Phila at the old camp, right?"

"Yeah, I'll go right now. Thanks for talking to me, Reflet." 

Cordelia nodded as she turned around, grabbing her cloak and slipping it over her head. Opening the door, she headed outside of the inn that served as their hideout and into the dark night. Even if the guards noticed her at this hour, they wouldn't think much of one woman leaving the city. Still, she'd better stay on the safe side and be careful.

Regardless, she needed to get out of the city now. Chrom and the others would be fighting to get Emmeryn back, and so she too would fight. For them, and for her.

* * *

_ April 18th, _

There was only one day left until Emmeryn's execution. Reflet breathed in and out as she pressed on her cheek repeatedly with her finger. She spent the last thirteen days doing nothing but draft and finalize their rescue plan in this very room they all sat in on the day they arrived in Reese's inn. With some help from Frederick, Flavia and some of the other Shepherds, she was finally able to put it all together.

Only now it was time to actually tell the others what she put together. And this time Chrom wasn't here to help her, only Frederick and Flavia.

Frederick cleared his throat as he looked at the crowd standing in the center of the room. His arms were behind his back and his composure stayed calm and collected, just like it always was.

"Thank you everyone for gathering in a timely manner. Let's get straight to business."

"So, what's the rest of the plan, Frederick?" Sully asked, standing in the middle of the crowd with her arms crossed. "Why is Chrom's special best friend missing? Where's that redhead flier gone?"

"Cordelia departed last night to meet with Phila and Pegasus Knights," he answered. "She'll be joining the squad that will be rescuing Emmeryn directly."

"Ah, yeah, that makes more sense than my first guess," Sully said. "Thought she and Blue were off doing a thing with each other, but right now that's less likely than Gangrel getting a heart attack and calling it quits."

"Hmm?" Miriel pursed her lips and looked at her. "What would the two of them be doing together at a time like this?"

Sully snickered. "Each other-'ll probably be doing something you'll figure out in a couple of months."

"Huh? I'm not quite sure what you mean." Miriel adjusted her mage's hat, her brows knitted as she turned back to Frederick. "Well, regardless, what became of Chrom? The majority of us have seldom left the shelter since the first day, yet he vanished almost two days ago."

"Yeah," Donny said, "what happened to him, Reflet?"

"He's, umm," Reflet said. "He's currently in jail."

"Wait, what?!" Donny shouted. "Why is he in jail?"

The room grew louder as some of the Shepherds started to question her. Reflet shuffled backwards, still fumbling on her words.

"Umm, he let himself get captured, so he could—"

"So that we could buy more time for the Pegasus Knights," Frederick chimed in, raising his hand to quiet the others. "As incredulous as it might seem, it was a precaution to ensure the safety of the Exalt. We don't know how long Gangrel will take before Emmeryn is put to death. If we can lengthen that time by focusing his attention on Chrom, we will have a better chance at rescuing her as well as securing our own escape."

"Yep, everything he said!" Reflet gave a large nod, exhaling a breath of relief. She was really thankful that Frederick was here to help.

"So, Chrom's basically live bait," Donny said. "Well I guess that makes sense then, but how do we know that's going to work?"

"It's possible that it won't work, but I doubt that would happen," Wayne said. He walked past Reflet and the others next to her, taking a seat at the table behind them. "If I know one thing about King Gangrel, that man enjoys his spectacle. I have also seen the type of man he is when dealing with the lord himself, and you've all seen it as well. That man holds nothing but venomous daggers for the Prince. For him to resist the chance of publicly humiliating Prince Chrom is like a wyvern resisting its lunch, and they aren't the type to do so."

"But what if he still doesn't bring Chrom out?" Ricken added. "Won't we be screwed if we have to rescue him on top of Emmeryn?"

"We would," Flavia said, raising her own hand from her seat at the table behind Reflet, "but that's half the reason we planted that gingerbread thief on the inside. If something happens and Chrom is still in his cell by the time Emmeryn is scheduled to fall, he'll be the one to break him out of there. With everyone's attention focused on what's going on outside, the two of them will have the opportunity to get out of there. At the very least, we won't suffer any more losses in that scenario."

"Mmhm," Reflet said, making smaller nods. "He's also going to be our lookout. He knows a hand signal which he'll use at the top of one of the towers once it's time to strike. That'll mean that the Pegasus Knights are in sight, so we'll have to clear a path for them before then."

"So then what do we do to clear the way?" said Donny. "Any specifics?"

"Well the first thing we need to do is take out the executioner that'll be right behind Emmeryn when she's about to fall," said Flavia. "The thing is, though, because they'll be behind Emmeryn and standing on top of the wall, it would be a struggle for any average soldier to get a clean shot at them from anywhere in the courtyard. Even if we tried to close the distance to get a better shot, we can't afford to get too close to Gangrel or we risk getting spotted."

"So then what are we gonna do?" Donny asked. "We've got a couple of bows and spellcasters, should we get our best ones to make the shot?"

"No," she said. "I think I know the perfect woman to do the job."

Flavia pulled out the small, three-pronged handaxe attached to her belt, giving it a twirl as a smile formed on her lips.

"Err, you're really going to use that axe?" Donny questioned her.

"You haven't seen a Feroxi axe throwing tournament, have you?" Flavia laughed as she gave her axe a light toss into the air, catching it with her fingers as it fell back down. Guess how many I have under my belt. I'll hit my target no matter how far I am or how high it is." 

"Flavia should still be able to take out the guard even from where we'll be hiding. We can trust her," Reflet said.

"As you should," Flavia added. "After all, what would a partnership be without trust between its members? I'll be the one to take down the executioner, and it'll be everyone else's jobs to take down any archers or mages who could bring down the Pegasi's wings."

"But what if they spot us before then?" Ricken asked. "We were able to enter the city by splitting into small groups and entering at different times in the night, but won't it be easier to figure us out once we're together in the crowd?"

"Hmm." Frederick paused for a moment as he crossed his arms, then brought his hand forward. "Given the nature of who most of us are, the average guard would have trouble recognizing our faces. Plegia and Ylisse have largely isolated themselves from each other to focus on restoring their individual kingdoms after the last war. Even amongst the nobility in our ranks, there've been few interactions between us and them."

"He's right about that," Liz added from her place in the crowd. "Outside of my sister, who went once, the only ones who've been to Plegia in my own family were my parents. I've never even seen the place until a few days ago."

"Either way, the simple cloaks we've brought with us to use in the desert should be able to keep our faces hidden long enough to take down the guard and begin the attack," Frederick continued. "We'll only need to remain undetected until the moment we must fight."

"Yeah," Reflet said. In fact, she remembered the first time the question was brought up back in Ferox, before they even left on the boat. It was Frederick who said "We need disguises." Then Chrom grabbed a cloak, stuck his head through it and said "Perfect!"

"I getcha Freddy," said Sully as she wrapped her hands behind her head. "That would also explain why we got into the city so easily, too. The guards barely paid any attention to us gettin' in here."

"Do you think so?" Sol said. "I thought it was strange that they didn't so much as approach my group. I was with Donny, Vaike and Maribelle, yet all that the higher-ranking guard did was nod their head before letting us through."

"I thought the same as we entered," Maribelle said. "In fact, I was worried for a moment as well. I thought that perhaps the guards would recognize me from the events at the border pass that occured last month."

"Ah, who cares about all that though?" Vaike said, scoffing. "They've never seen us before, and most of us aren't fancy types that don't look like either villagers or mercenaries. What more do we need to focus on besides bustin' Emmeryn outta there? All that matters is getting her back and getting it done right!"

"The champ's got that right," Flavia said. "The last thing of note will be our own method of escape. That oaf of a Khan's already on his way, and he's bringing a small force with him to back us up. But he might not reach us in time, so depending on how the battle goes, we may end up having to hoof it out of the castle and maybe even the city just to get to him."

"If I may speak," Canas said. The black-robed mage fiddled with the collar of his shirt, clearing his throat as he pressed his thumb upon the wind tome he held. "I believe we already have that covered. During our strategy meetings, we considered the possibility that we'd have to find a way to escape. It turns out this very shelter may prove more useful than expected for that matter, correct Reflet?" 

"Mmhm," Reflet agreed. "There's some doors that we found in the back of the inn that we can sneak out of. And Reese said that he'll actually help us sneak out if we have to."

"Which is excellent for us," Frederick said. "That will be all you need to know before the mission begins. You are dismissed."

The rest of the Shepherds scattered out of the meeting room, bringing the number of people in the room down to five. The only ones who stayed were Flavia, Frederick, Canas and Wayne, the very same ones who'd partaken in each of the strategy meetings. With a breath of relief, Reflet pulled her chair and sat herself down at the table, going back to her thoughts.

But before that, she turned to Frederick just as he was about to take his seat.

"Umm, Frederick," she said, lifting her hand towards him.

Frederick stopped himself as his right eyebrow raised. "Hmm? What do you need?"

"Umm, thank you for what you did," she said, pausing as she looked down for just a moment. "From earlier, when you explained that part of the plan I was trying to explain."

Frederick lifted his head and paused, then snorted as he sat down with a slight smile. "Think nothing of it. I merely noticed you were having difficulty speaking and spoke in your place. It wouldn't be well to have our allies lose faith in our strategies, correct?"

"You're right, I think," Reflet said, breathing in as she smiled back. "Still, thank you, Freddy."

"Of course." He turned his head away, bringing his hands together as he looked forwards. But his hands were tight against one another, pressing down on the blue plate metal of his gauntlets. He gripped his hands like how he gripped his silver lance. Fiercely, despite his calm expression. Almost as fierce as Chrom was during their last two battles.

Was he upset? And was it because there was something on his mind? Before she could ask him though, the others in the room began conversing with one another.

"A plan that has the Prince get himself imprisoned solely to buy time to rescue the Queen." Wayne chuckled, grabbing his chin. "I admit, it wouldn't be a plan I would've come up with."

"Neither would I," Canas said, taking his seat. "Still, it is perhaps our best hope at rescuing Her Grace. Though admittedly, I've never had to plan for a mission like this."

"Have you now?" Wayne leaned forward and brought his hand up to his lower chin. "So what missions did you plan for then?"

"Field missions, you see," Canas replied, leaning forward as he picked up the Wyvern Knight report and read it. "They were largely centered around rescuing as many people as we could from bandits and other monsters. Monsters such as wolves and beasts, that is. As a result, this type of mission never came up, and if it did then I was too young to be involved." 

"What group was this? Perhaps I've heard of them."

"Just a volunteer group of sorts, but nothing spectacular. And you…" Canas stopped, grabbing his glasses and sliding them back onto his nose. "Wayne? That is your name, correct?"

"The one and only, I can't imagine having another name." Wayne raised up a hand as he smiled coyly. "It originally belonged to my uncle, you see, and so my father decided to name me after him. Would you not agree that it is a fitting name?"

"...I suppose so," Canas said. "In anycase, it is best we stay focused on the mission at hand. To my knowledge, nobody knows of our presence beyond ourselves at this current point in time. Can you verify this, Reflet?"

"Err, yes," Reflet said, nodding her head slowly as she answered the question. Technically, there was one person who did know of her presence. Tharja, that black-haired girl from when she went to the palace. After that day, she had gone to meet her outside the palace on the 15th so that they could discuss what she knew about the bandit raids. Although all she told the girl was that the bandits who attacked carried that letter which proved they were Plegians, and that Maribelle never attacked that village at the border. She hadn't told her anything regarding the rescue mission or about the Shepherds, so she shouldn't be aware of any of that.

Reflet looked down at the table, growing anxious as she reflected back to that conversation three days ago. Would what everything she told Tharja be enough to get her to believe her? When they talked that day, there was something about the way Tharja acted. It was like she was frustrated. Or annoyed? But at the same time, she wasn't dismissive of what she said, either.

Well, maybe what she said would be enough to convince her to listen. She wished it would. And if she was willing to listen, then maybe there was a chance she also wouldn't be at the castle tomorrow.

"Hey, pick your head up, sprout," Flavia said, her voice low and commanding.

Reflet looked up to see her Flavia across her, narrowed-eyed and cross-armed. 

"Huh, my head?" she asked her.

"Yeah, you got your head down like a bean sprout." Flavia tapped a finger upon her elbow, shaking her head. "That ain't gonna help you when we're fighting out there tomorrow. Keep your head up, and hold it up high."

"Umm… okay…" Reflet straightened her back, adjusting herself in her seat. Now her whole body felt all tense and weird. It was like needles poking at her skin, and her face grew warmer the more Flavia kept her eyes on her.

"Like this?"

"No, not like that. You need to feel it. It's not going to help if you can't actually feel it." 

Flavia put her elbow on the table, her eyes still centered on Reflet's. "Keep your head clear. In a battle, all that matters is you and your opponents. You can't waste time thinking about everything else. If you do that, you'll waste seconds, and seconds are enough to get you killed out there. So keep your head up, hold it up high, and think of nothing else but how you're gonna take down the person in front of you. And start practicing that now so that you don't regret it later. Gimme a deep breath, right now."

"My head clear… Okay." Reflet nodded her head and took a deep breath of air. Flavia's words did hold true. The only thing that mattered right now was rescuing Emmeryn, and fighting to do just that.

Expelling that breath out of her body, her head felt just a little bit emptier, and clearer, too. Reflet repeated the same motion, this time taking a string of smaller breaths.

"Got it?" Flavia asked, giving a knowing smile as Reflet opened her eyes.

"...Okay."

* * *

Well, she arrived, Cordelia thought to herself as she stared at the group of tents bunched close to one another. The majority of them had been taken down by now, as there was nowhere near enough people to fill them all in anymore. The only ones who were here now were Phila and the other Pegasus Knights.

Cordelia sucked in a breath and slowly exhaled it out. "The Pegasus Knights," she said, muffling her words so that no one could hear. Unless it was a direct order from Phila, she hadn't worked with the Pegasus Knights since she left them. And never with them as a group, either. And if she was being honest, she had preferred if it had stayed that way.

But Cordelia grit her teeth, walking across the loose, dry sands to search for Commander Phila. She had to be somewhere, especially with how small the base had become in her absence.

"Ah, there you are, Cordelia," Phila said on cue, heading out of the strategy tent that was still standing even now. "I was beginning to wonder when you would show up."

"Commander Phila," Cordelia answered, taking off her hood. "Forgive me, I spent more time than I should have back in Doluna. We were discussing the plans to rescue Emmeryn one last time before I left."

"No worries," Phila said as she crossed past her. "As long as you're on time, that isn't an issue."

"Yes," Cordelia said as she put her hands behind her back, "and if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to see my horse before we have to head out. Is that alright?"

"Go right ahead. Come on, follow me." Phila waved for her to follow over to the long and large tent in the corner of the base. This one wasn't set up when she was still here, it must have been put in place after the Shepherds had left.

Opening the flaps that formed the door, the whiff of hay and horse told Cordelia that this was the stable tent. Walking down the lane between two rows of horse pens, she passed by each and every Pegasi belonging to them in search of her own white, winged horse. As she neared the middle of the rows, a horse snorted softly as she lifted her head towards Cordelia, calling for her attention.

"Hey Catria," she said as a grin formed on her face. She walked over to her horse as Catria did the same, bringing her hand over to the horse's head to stroke her mane. 

"It's been a while, hasn't it? Have you been a good girl?" Cordelia cooed as she scratched her friend's head. "Did you enjoy flying with Sumia while I was away?" 

Although Sumia was with the Shepherds the entire time, and thus not with the Pegasus Knights currently, it's been over a month since Cordelia had the chance to ride her own horse. Admittedly, she did miss doing so somewhat, but she's been fine otherwise.

"It's a shame we don't have a pegasus at the ready for your friend to ride, otherwise I'd have asked His Highness to bring her to accompany us." Phila said as she moved behind them. "She's a skilled flier, as skilled you were before you left the Pegasus Knights."

"Probably better than me when I was younger, really," Cordelia said as she looked back at her. "She's older than I was, and she has more experience with horses."

"Don't say such things, Cordelia." Phila swiped her hand away from herself. "You know better than to sell your abilities short, even those of your younger self."

Her smile creeped wider on her face as she lowered her head. "Well thank you very much, Commander Phila."

"Of course. I still meant what I said when I said that you would be an ace flier," Phila said. "Even when I was only a Junior Captain, I knew the drive and skill was in you from the start. Which is why it was a shame to see you leave so soon." 

"I see," Cordelia said, flicking her head as her smile pulled to the right. She sighed, petting her horse a bit faster than before. Although she did miss working with and under Phila directly, it wasn't because of her that she left. But working with Phila wasn't enough to want to stay, either.

"I'm afraid that's just how some things go," she told Phila.

It was then that the horse in the pen to the right of them neighed at them, as if calling for attention the same way Catria did.

"And a good early morning to you, too." Phila walked over to the horse and gently touched the long and sharp horn on its head that gleamed whiter than any marble or stone that could try to match it. Both in appearance and abilities, Phila's horse was in a class on its own. It was the only horse in the stable who had a horn. It was no surprise, either, as such a thing was not attained so easily.

"What is that man thinking?" Phila muttered as she brought her hand higher along the white horn. "We're endangering the life of not one but two of Our Highnesses by letting one of them get himself imprisoned. I don't understand how he and that little girl he found on the ground were able to get away with that idea, and least of all getting it through Frederick."

"I don't wish to endanger the life of our Prince, either, but Reflet and Frederick assured that nothing would happen to him," Cordelia said.

"So you say. I'm not quite convinced by the Prince and his friends on the matter. Still, I'll place my trust in your words," Phila said, taking her hand off her horse as she turned around. "I need to leave for now. I'll be back shortly."

As Phila stepped outside, Cordelia continued looking after her horse when a sudden thud came from the corner of the tent.

"Gah!"

Cordelia stopped what she was doing and immediately went to check on whoever was there. Peeking her head into the very last pen on the right, it turned out that it was none other than Skye who was shouting. The spiky-haired blonde hissed as she grabbed her blue left boot, pressing hard on her toes.

"Skye?" Cordelia said.

"Stubbed my damn…" Sucking her teeth, Skye slowly let her air out as she opened her eyes and let go of her foot.

"Hey Cordie," she said as she tilted her head away from her, swiping her hand to the right.

"You were here the whole time?" Cordelia said, her eyebrows narrowed. "Wait, were you eavesdropping?" 

"Not intentionally," Skye said as she grabbed her elbows with both hands, gripping her long, white sleeves covering her arms. You and Phila just happened to be here while I was feeding my horse."

"I see," she said as she watched Sky let go over her arms. Turning her own head away, she kept her eyes on Skye, watching her from the corner of her eyes. She wasn't keen on continuing the conversation, not with her at least.

"Do you uhh, need something from me?" Skye said. She looked down at the bag she struck with her foot, pushing it away as she tapped said foot with a rhythm. "What's up?"

Cordelia thought for a moment over what exactly she should reply with, but luckily she didn't have to say anything as Phila came back into the room just in time.

"I'm back, and I've brought something with me," Phila said as she walked up to the two of them. She greeted Skye before she turned to Cordelia, holding out a red helmet between her hands. 

"This is for you, Cordelia."

"Err, thank you Phila," Cordelia said as she took it between her own hands. She traced a finger over the white, metal feather-wings on the back, before flipping it around to see the sharp white horn that poked out of the front. The helmet was more of a crown really, given how covered roughly only her forehead. It was in pristine condition, like it was made only a day ago.

"This is the Junior Captain's helmet. You're giving this to me?"

"We intended to give it to you when you were still flying with us, but you left a month or so before it was time," Phila said, raising a hand towards the blonde behind Cordelia. "Had you stayed with us, you would've been a Captain by now, just like Skye here currently is."

"She would've?" Skye asked, inching back as she received an affirming nod from Phila.

"Of course she would," Phila said to her. "Her status should reflect her skills, wouldn't you agree?"

"Ah—" she gasped, before going quiet. Skye then lowered her head, nodding her head before she narrowed her eyebrows and picked her head back up. "Yes, you're absolutely right."

Cordelia hummed in annoyance as she listened to her Skye, but otherwise ignored it as Phila's praise outweighed whatever that woman really had to say about her. Looking back to her helmet, she lifted it close to her head as she gave a half smile. 

"As much as it might've been nice to have stayed with the Knights, I'm quite happy with my place in the role as a member of the Shepherds," she said. "Perhaps my status isn't as high as it would've been if I stayed. The Shepherds aren't quite the same as a full fledged royal knight group, after all. But ever since I've been with them, I have always been in good hands and I've been better for it." 

"I understand," Phila said, smiling back. "The feeling of finding a group that fits for you is something unlike anything else. Still, I do hope you keep this gift with you. You deserve it."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to treasure it." Cordelia put on the horned crown-like helmet, adjusting it to the right position. It fit perfectly around her head, and barely weighed anything.

She turned back to Phila, grinning at her. "Thank you, Commander."

"Of course. Now, I believe it's time for me to go. I have business to attend to before tomorrow."

Cordelia waved her off, taking off her helmet so she could look at it again. If things could've gone well, then what would things have been like had she stayed with them?

A round of claps came from behind her. "Wow, good on you."

Closing her eyes, Cordelia growled in irritation as she snapped her head back to face her. "Do you have something you want to say to me?"

Skye winced as she stepped away from her. "What? No! I meant it seriously!" She let out a huff, stepping forward as she reached for her neck and rubbed it. "Sorry, okay?"

"...I see." Cordelia's eyebrows tightened for a moment, then softened, before she calmly brought them together once again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, really. Really, I really…" Skye rubbed her neck in a rougher fashion as she turned her eyes to the floor, stopping herself from saying whatever she was about to say. 

Cordelia slid her helmet over her arm as she crossed them. "You're really what?"

"I'm just…" She gripped down on her neck before releasing all the tension at once. With a silent grunt, her hand fell back down to her side as she looked at her. 

"Look, never mind? I'm happy you got your helmet. Lets just try to get this done already so we can bring Queen Emmeryn back."

Skye opened the gate to her horse's pen and stormed out of the tent. She almost bumped into Cordelia as she left with her head in a shake, but made the effort to avoid her.

The stress that brought Cordelia's eyebrows together faded as she watched her disappear behind the tent door. "What was that about?" she muttered to herself. Skye didn't act like how she expected her to at all. In fact, that may have been the first time she'd ever seen her get like that. Whatever it was that she wanted to say, it looked like she was struggling to get herself to say it.

But just what was she going to say? What did she really mean?

Well, now that Skye took off, Cordelia wouldn't be finding out anytime soon. If anything, she was just thankful that it was over without much of an issue.

She breathed a sigh of relief, walking back to her horse, setting her up and readying her for a ride. She'd better use this time to practice and sharpen her skills. After all, the time before they would rescue Emmeryn was drawing close to its end.

Taking her horse outside of the stables and into the desert, she climbed onto it as it flapped its wings, lifting itself into the air before taking off into the sky.


	22. The Fading of Light - Part 2

_April 19th,_

"People of Plegia!" Gangrel shouted. "It is a pleasure to see you all on this very special day! I bring nothing but good fortune to all of us!" 

Gangrel threw his fist into the air as his voice reached all who stood in the crowd in front of him. "This war was started between Ylisse and ourselves little longer than a month ago, but look what we have now! We have the very Queen of our enemies in our grasp, ready to be executed at a moment's notice!"

Chrom's hand tightened into a fist, his nails digging into the skin of his palm as he heard a roar of voices from where he stood. There were people out there chanting and cheering, _happy_ that his sister's life was on the line.

"I know, some of you may feel hesitant," Gangrel continued as he walked from one side of the sandstone platform to the other. "Perhaps we shouldn't be fighting, you might say. That we would spend too much resources and suffer as a result. That we should focus on recovering from our existing hardships. But do you all remember what the Ylisseans have done to us?" 

He threw down his hand, gripped like a claw as it reached towards the dozens of people. "It was the Ylisseans that plunged us to war all those years ago! It was the Ylisseans who assaulted us, and for what? A righteous war, as the former king of Ylisse and his allies claimed? Hah! Pretenses! Pretenses! It was all pretenses with him! I'll tell you what he wanted! He wanted nothing more than to rob us of our wealth and horde it for himself!" 

"Yeah!" a man in the crowd shouted.

"He took my granddaughter away from me!" an old lady yelled. The crowd roared louder as many within it grew incensed and heated up.

"And it is for a good reason that he is gone now! On that day, when Reven Lowell decided he would conquer the Altean Palace so that he could squat in it while he brought the rest of us to ruin, it was then that his life was taken, by my hand no less! It was then that his atrocities finally ended and it was then that we all saw peace for several years! And now here we are and here I am! I stand here before today as your beloved ruler who has brought you all the peace you all sought! Let my claims to the throne be legitimized by my actions!" 

Another roar came from the crowd as he fanned his right hand and lifted it backwards, aiming high into the sky and pointing to the towering statue looming over him. 

"But then his children decided to end all that!" he said. "It was them who started this war! Not us! We were the ones who had no choice but to fight back when our villages were raided and our soldiers were killed! What more should we do but defend our country?"

Gangrel lowered said hand towards the castle wall behind him, where a dark hallway opened up behind the stone mage who sat behind the stone warrior. "And now! Let's see just who exactly brought this war onto us! Bring him out!"

The guard leering at Chrom's back stepped to his side and pointed out into the courtyard. "Hey. Get over there, deadbeat."

Chrom exhaled through his nose, walking forward as the chains that locked his arms behind his back clanked with every step. Even with his head down, the sun shone into his eyes once the dark gave way, hurting his eyes until they adjusted once he passed Gangrel and faced the crowd. Hundreds, perhaps two hundred or three hundred people or even more had all gathered in the courtyard below where they stoor. And every single one of them had their eyes centered on him. Some scowled, showing nothing but contempt for him in their eyes. Others were scared, looking at him as if he were some kind of monster. Some smiled, even, as if seeing him in chains was justice to them.

Yet some looked on with tension. Those who stood far away at the very back of the castle wall where the pillars were lined one after another. They provided shade for anyone hiding underneath and supported the large walkways that the guards could walk upon. It was there that Frederick, Flavia, Reflet, nearly every single one of the Shepherds hid there, looking as if they were ordinary people.

Chrom smiled, closing his eyes for a moment. At the very least they too were here for this. Now all they needed was for the Pegasus Knights to get in range.

Looking to the left, towards one of the black towers of the castle, Chrom saw none other than Gaius poking out from the tip. The thief had his eyes locked towards the northwest, where the Pegasus Knights would rush in from.

All Chrom needed to do was wait for the signal. Then it would be time to break himself out and break his sister out.

The sound of a sword leaving its scabbard came from behind him, accompanied by the steps of the man who drew it. He went over to his side and raised it upwards, dropping it down right in front of Chrom's face.

"You." Gangrel squinted at him, sneering as he stepped back and raised his rapier high. "This is the man that started all this! Get a look at him everyone!" he said, twirling his blade before pointing it at his neck. "It's the son of Reven Lowell! Chrom, the Prince of all Ylisseans!"

Chrom kept his eyes on the crowd even as they threw every single jeer and boo and curse they had at him, biting his tongue the whole time. He did everything he could to keep himself from snarling at that name, Reven. He may have been his son but he vowed to be nothing like his father, no matter what these people saw him as.

  
Gangrel slashed his sword from one side to the other, sheathing it back into its holster as he turned back to the crowd. "Yes it's true. We have not one but two of his children on our hands! So cheer for yourselves! Cheer for Plegia! Because within moments, this war will finish as quickly as it began!"

Chrom exhaled through his nose, finally turning his eyes away from the crowd that cheered again. It was then he noticed the elephant in the room, or really the axe in the courtyard. Strapped to Gangrel's back was a double-bladed axe with a pointed staff as long as a greatsword. The outer edges of both blades were white as bone, while the inner sides were a cobalt blue with gold engraved into the edges. Near the middle of the shaft, a meters-long ribbon wrapped itself around it, tying itself together near the axe's golden end.

"You have an axe?" Chrom said quietly, narrowing his eyes as he gave it a second look. That thing was almost larger than the bastard himself.

"Helswath, baby." Gangrel showed his palms as he scoffed and grinned. "The one and only regalia of the Plegian King. Well, it was the only one until I came along. Been saving this one for today."

Chrom furrowed his eyebrows and grunted in silence. That meant that Gangrel had not one, but two Relics in his hands, both of which he could wield. That spelt trouble for all of them if they had to fight against him. And looking at it now, he recognized that the axe looked exactly like the one from the statue behind them.

The one his sister stood atop of.

He whispered her name, lifting his head to see her standing all the way up there. Her head hung low as their eyes met one another, before she nodded at him and looked ahead of herself.

"Dammit…" Chrom lowered his head and closed his eyes as he hissed through his teeth. It wouldn't be long until they could get her out of this hell, but how long was that going to take? Chrom looked up at Gaius once again, only for him to signal that the knights still weren't there.

_Come on, get here already._

He looked behind himself, staring at the four people behind him. There was the Archwitch, naturally, who looked on with a grin of satisfaction. But then there was also a man beside her, an extremely well built and muscular one with a scar over his eye and a black, full beard that started to grey at the ends. A veteran of some sorts, then. Unlike the witch, he held his arms crossed and his eyes shut, appearing to be solemnly meditating with quiet, deep breaths.

Across them on the other side of the hallway entrance was a black-haired girl clutching a book in her hands. She gripped her book very tightly, seemingly stepping backwards as if to try to hide within the shadows of the hall. And to the right of her was the very last of the four. A man in a long, dark-blue coat, leaning his lower back upon the black wall of the castle. Though his arms were crossed as well, unlike the man to his left, he stared blankly at Chrom with his light-blue eyes. He tilted his head in such a way that made it obvious that he was making no attempt to hide his gaze.

Judging from the fact that Aversa was there, the other three people must have also held important roles in the Plegian Army. But that didn't matter. If it came down to having to fight all of them, or even fighting Gangrel and the two Relics he carried, then he was more than ready to fight back.

"Now let's see here…" Gangrel muttered under his breath, dragging Chrom's attention back to him as he reached into his pocket. "Gotta make sure I get this right." He pulled out a small, thin slip of paper, reading off of it from the corner of his eye and quietly muttering the words to himself aloud. 

"I've come to make an announcement. Chrom Lowell is a bit…" 

Gangrel squinted, reeling his head back as he read the rest of the card. "No wait, that's not right. Damn these flashcards, they're never the right ones…" He slipped the flashcard back into his pocket before he started rapidly rubbing his hands together. 

"Whatever, looks like we're winging the rest of this!"

"People!" he said, slamming his hands together for a thunderous clap that captured the attention of the audience once again. "So now you've seen him! The son of the man who brought all those years of war onto us! And just like him, he was so foolish and arrogant that he thought he could attack us without anything going wrong! Well look how that turned out!"

Those in the crowd threw their insults once again, which only served to tmake Chrom's jaw tighten even further. Gangrel was lying through the skin of his teeth. He was the one who attacked them first, yet he can play the victim?

He was prepared to counter Gangrel's words when he held his mouth shut instead. Although speaking would give him the chance to buy time for the Pegasus Knights, if he weren't careful, then Gangrel could get angry and decide to execute Emmeryn early. He needed to be absolutely certain that his shot would count.

"And that is why I'm pleased to tell you that he will be executed today, too!" Gangrel said. "First it'll be the Exalt who falls, and then it'll be him—!"

"Stop!" someone called out.

From the large gates that led into the courtyard, a man shouted "Stop! Stop!" as he ran and slipped past the crowd. His farming scythe was raised high as he raced to the front, panting upon arrival with his hands covering his knees. The modest white cloths the man wore gave away that he was a cleric from Ylisse. But what was he doing alone here in the middle of another country?

"Who the hell are you?" Gangrel said.

The man slid his hands over his elegant locks of golden hair, still breathing heavy as some draped back onto his face. "Libra is my name. I'm simply a follower of Naga and the Twelve of Darna." 

The man used his fingers to part the rest of his hairs to his sides, uncovering the green eyes underneath. He took a deep breath, slipping the sheathed scythe over his back as he stepped onto the base of the staircase. 

"Please, you must stop this at once!" he cried out, pleading in front of Gangrel. 

Gangrel turned his head down and stared at him. "Now why would I do that?"

The cleric put his hands together and took another step, speaking with honesty and dread in his voice, "King Gangrel, I know well what Ylisse's last Exalt has done to Plegia. But please, stop this at once. Look into your heart. Do you not realize what this will do to your country and theirs?"

Even though he was completely on his own and was only as involved in this situation as any other random person on the streets, this priest was out here, trying to get Gangrel to stop the executions. But it seemed like his words would fall silent upon their ears, at least with this crowd. Those within it started to boo and shout Libra just as they did for Chrom himself. But Libra wasn't stopped by this, which was made evident as he took another step towards Gangrel.

At least he'd buy them some of the extra time they needed.

"Even if you were to take the lives of Queen Emmeryn and Prince Chrom, the fighting will not stop at them!" Libra said, his voice clear against the many against him. "Think of what will happen should they die! Ylisse will come to resent your actions today and may very well retaliate for what is about to occur. The only thing to come from war will be more blood and both countries will suffer for it!"

Surprisingly, his words managed to quiet Gangrel's supporters, if only a very slight margin. Though Chrom realized something else once he paid closer attention to the people standing right behind Libra. They weren't shouting or doing anything resembling the actions of the spiteful members of the crowd. They were quietly speaking with one another, looking at Libra, Gangrel and himself with nervousness in their eyes. Did they also happen to wish to avoid the war? He hadn't noticed until now, but as he looked across the crowd, now he saw that there were plenty of those who looked just like the ones behind the priest.

But it was too late for that wish to come true. They were already more than a month into the war. And even if they saved Emmeryn, it wouldn't stop Gangrel from continuing the war against them.

Gangrel's eyebrows rose high as he listened to Libra, before his glare sharpened as he lowered them back down. "Get this fool away from the stand," he said through clenched teeth, raising his voice. "And if you mess with us again, we'll put you in the dungeon for causing a disturbance!"

"Your Majesty, don't you realize what you're doing?" Libra argued, taking another step. "You'll doom Archanea to another tragedy!"

He would've continued to speak had a guard not approached him. The cleric raised his hands up, complying with the guards as he was led back to the entrance. And like that, those in the crowd who didn't seem to like the idea of going to war were silent as Gangrel spoke once again.

"I think you don't realize we're already in a tragedy!" Gangrel snarked, letting out a light chuckle. "But thankfully, this is one that has an end! And it's with the ruler of one country falling at the hands of another!"

Gangrel lifted his head and loudly cackled, watching the priest walk all the way back to the exit.

"Unless of course…" he said as he stopped laughing. He drew his sword, turning his head towards Chrom.

"Perhaps you might just be right, Priest of Naga," he said, a grin on his face. "You just might."

Gangrel circled around Chrom, staring at the grimace on Chrom's face with his own wild look. "I have no intentions of letting you both off the hook scot-free. But I'll make a deal with you, Prince."

Chrom followed Gangrel's movements, watching him circle and circle around him until his back was turned to the statue while Chrom's own faced the crowd.

"You know the exact thing I'm about to ask!" Gangrel said, stepping back and lifting his sword over his head. "The same things I asked for back then are the same that I ask for now! I want the Queensfang, I want your fealty and cooperation, and I want a total surrender of your army! Give that all to me, right here, right now!"

Chrom stepped in front of him, looking him in the eyes as his chains rattled once. "And you would spare not just myself, but my sister as well?"

Gangrel raised the hand he held his sword with—his left hand—and placed it over the right side of his chest. "As I swear upon my heart that I will ensure that no harm will come to you or your sister, not so much as even a single strand of blue and blonde hair! I, King Gangrel, am not a man who goes back on his word!"

Gangrel bared his teeth, teeth forming a grin steeped in vitriolic satisfaction. "All I'm asking is for you to give up. And I don't want to hear it from her, I want to hear it from you! You were the one who threw us into this mess, so now you're the one who's going to get us out!"

Chrom's eyes turned narrow as he stared at him in silence. The disdain he had for Gangrel stirred in his chest, swirling around like a thunderous vortex. Turning his eyes up to the watchtower, he managed to sneak a glance at Gaius poking out of it once again. And at that moment, the thief quickly flashed a set of hand movements in his direction. A clap of the hands, two fingers raised, and then an okay sign before finally raising his hands over his eyes to shield them from the sun.

The signal! The Pegasus Knights were on their way, and Flavia was about to put the plan into action! Now all he needed was to wait just a few moments longer and they'd all be in the clear!

Which meant there was one last thing to deal with.

Chrom lifted his head, staring Gangrel back in the eyes. "Like hell I'll give you that. I have no reason to trust you. How do I know you won't just take our Relics and kill us right then? You already kidnapped my sister, and you stole her Relic, too. Your words are nothing but hollow lies!"

The smile on Gangrel's face wiped as quickly as Chrom hoped it would. "...So even after all this, you're still not going to give up. You still accuse me of speaking nothing of lies, yet I have not said a single one." 

Gangrel sheathed his sword. "Fine! Then send the Queen down to her death!"

Chrom turned his head up to see the executioner walking forwards, an archer standing arched over with her bow ready. She ordered Emmeryn to start walking slowly over to the end, where she would fall to her death within moments.

But not now. Not today.

He lowered his head back down and closed his eyes, tuning everything out. The only thing left to hear was his heart beating and beating. It surged and pounded inside him, swelling in a mix of emotions. Anger. Anxiousness. Anticipation. Altogether in accord.

"Come on… Come-on-come-on!" Gangrel's eyes darted to Chrom's as he chuckled hastily. "What? Your very own sister is going to die, you know that? And you're not even going to consider the offer?"

Chrom refused to answer, biting on his tongue instead. He said his piece. If he were to say anything else, he might've gone for Gangrel's neck a moment too soon.

"You're going to die too, you know?" he continued, shouting at him as he stepped right in front of Chrom's face. "Don't you care about that one bit? Don't you care what's going to happen to her as well?!"

Gangrel waved his hand over his face. "Hello?! Earth to the man with his eyes closed! Your sister is going to shit her pants if you don't do something about it!"

 _Could you please shut your goddamn face up for five minutes?_ Pissed off as he was, Chrom did his best to tune him out, searching for the sound behind him. Just one sound. Just one very specific sound.

Then he heard it. 

The whirl of an axe soaring through the air. Flying, spinning, rising higher and higher and higher into the sky as it travelled from the southeast corner of the courtyard to the center of the other wall.

"Ahhhh!" A woman above suddenly screamed in agony. Not Emmeryn, the archer behind her. Moments later, a sharp thud slammed the floor as screams came from the crowd by people fleeing for their lives.

"What the?! How the?!" 

Chrom opened his eyes to see Gangrel stepping away from him to check on the woman on the floor. The axe was wedged into her side. She was killed on impact with the ground.

"Where did that come from?!" Gangrel breathed heavily as he turned around. His eyes were in a dazed panic before they locked with Chrom's, at which point they stirred into a frenzy.

"You!" he yelled, getting up and pointing at his face. "It was you, wasn't it—!"

"Now!" Chrom shouted, bending forwards and lifting his arms upwards. A sharp, green blade streaked forward from behind him, snapping the chains binding him down.

"What the—?!" In no less than a second, Gangrel quickly raised his arms against the wind blade that passed Chrom and went straight for him. He grunted as he received a thin yet long cut across the right elbow, sliding backwards a slight amount as it broke his guard and made him stumble.

"Eat this!" Chrom shouted as he pushed forward and jumped, slamming both feet into Gangrel's chest. With all his strength, he pushed off of Gangrel and super-vaulted backwards, treating him as a springboard to launch off of. Gangrel slammed his back into the statue as Chrom sped over to the other side of the courtyard, using a hand to catch his landing as he rolled and picked himself back on his feet.

"It worked!" Frederick said as he grabbed Chrom's hand and helped him steady himself. 

"Excelsior!" Canas said, closing the wind tome in his hand. "That was a fine shot from you, Flavia! And I knew Chrom's technique would come in handy!"

"Yeah, but we gotta focus now!" Flavia said as she drew her steel sword off her back. "Things are about to get hot!"

The hundreds in the crowds now all screamed, running en masse like a stampede of horses from the courtyard that was about to become a battlefield.

"Shit! Fuck!" Gangrel said, peeling his shoulders off the statue as he dropped onto his hands and feet. "Dammit! That stings like a bitch!"

He clutched the wound on his wrist as he got on his knees. "I should've known this might've happened, but it's not like I didn't plan for it either!" 

He pulled the Jugdrali Holy Weapon off his back and lifted himself back on his feet, raising it towards the entrance. "Mustafa! Take the Weissritter with you and start evacuating people down to the Silver Ring! Don't let a single civilian die to any of these bastards!"

The muscular man behind him shouted affirmatively, calling the black haired girl over with his hand before rushing over to the crowd. "Lady Tharja! Help me get our people to safety!"

The girl nodded, running after him without saying a word to help the people escape.

"Great!" Gangrel said, turning to the Archwitch behind him. "Now get a cleric to Physic me and get our soldiers onto the field!"

"As you command, my Lord!" Aversa said, running inside the hallway leading back into the castle.

Yet as the people were running away, one man in particular did the opposite and ran towards the courtyard, the blonde cleric from before. He weaved and pushed past the guards and the people fleeing, breaking out of the pack before rushing his way over to the Shepherds.

"Please! Let me join you!" the man said as he sped towards them. "As much as I wish this to never have happened, we must not let the Exalt's life be stolen from us! Her life is far more important than mine! I'm a healer, let me do what I can!"

"Chrom! Your sword, your sword!" Reflet shouted. She rushed towards him, swinging the sword and throwing into the air. 

"Then get over here and help us out!" Chrom said to Libra as he caught the blade at the sheath, bringing it in front of him and grabbing the hilt. "Good job, Reflet!" he said towards her as he turned the Queensfang around and drew the blade, holding it in one hand as he raised it up high in the air.

"Shepherds!" Chrom shouted. "Today we fight for the sake of the Queen! Her life is the most important of ours, one that we must fight and protect until we can no longer fight! As Second Prince of Ylisse, I order every ranger in our squad to take down every mage and archer on their end! Everyone else, lend them your support and keep the enemy at bay!"

The Shepherds shouted back at him as they all readied their weapons. That's when foot soldiers of all types came rushing out of the hallway looming behind Gangrel, axes, lances, swords and bows drawn.

"Shut down their attack!" Gangrel ordered as he pointed his axe at the Shepherds. "They'll never get the Exalt so long as they can still fight! Crush their spirits!" A purple aura enshrouded him as he readied the titanic axe, closing his wound as he sent his men charging at them. 

The Shepherds only had about twenty fighters amongst themselves when nearly double that number of guards came charging at them. But what they lacked in numbers, Chrom knew they made up for teamwork and skill.

"Aether!" Chrom said, lighting his sword ablaze as he cut down the axeman leading the pack. He didn't even give the lancer beside him a moment to think before he stabbed him in the arm and melted the very spear that was his weapon. Frederick, Sully, Sol and Kellam formed an armored line as they pushed back anyone that dared to come near them, giving the rest of them space in what little they had in their corner.

"Ricken, watch out!" Vaike shouted as an arrow slipped in between the red and green cavaliers. He dove for the redhead and held onto him as tightly as he could, shielding him as he received a puncture to the back.

"Crap!" Vaike said as he dropped to his knees and let go of Ricken, who turned his eyes up at the man who shot the brawler.

"Arcthunder!" Ricken shouted, lifting his hand forward as a jagged ball of yellow and purple lightning flew upwards towards the other wall of the castle and fried the archer who shot at them.

"Damn it, sorry Vaike!" Ricken said to him as he slung a lightning bolt forward, zapping another guard in the chest.

"Hey, don't worry about the Vaike! I'm gonna stay in the back and get healed by Liz!" He got on his feet, standing hunched over before rushing to Liz in the back, who got straight to work patching his wounds.

"Don't let up!" Chrom shouted. "Keep pressuring them! We only need to hold out for a few minutes!"

"Then let's do all we can to send them running!" Panne shouted as she got on all fours. A glowing cocoon of earth rose from the ground and concealed her, before it shattered and shot forward as a rabbit the size of a war-horse with bright red eyes rushed out of it with incredible speed.

" _The Taguel will pay their debts today!_ " it shouted in an ethereal voice as it viciously clawed through the armor of a pair of knights, sending them running back towards the castle for a chance to survive. So this was the shapeshifting power that Panne had.

But the other soldiers weren't letting up, even as their numbers were thinning. They even managed to take out some of Chrom's own fighters, though thankfully none were killed.

Chrom took out another swordsman when a second one came at him from the side, only for his hand to be grabbed by someone else's rushing into the way.

"Critical Strike!" Lon'qu said as he dragged the unfortunate swordsman forward. Dark-purple lightning crackled in the fist he held his white and red sword in as he thrusted said fist into the stomach of his opponent and punted him across the yard. His opponent slammed into the head of an even unluckier archer, taking them both out of the fight as they blacked out from their injuries.

They were finishing off the first wave when a second wave of reinforcements arrived. Chrom ordered the Shepherds to advance to the middle of the battlefield as their enemies came at them, with Gangrel now leading the charge.

"Bring it on, Prince!" he taunted as he swung his axe across himself with no effort.

"Give me my sister and maybe you won't die today, bastard!" Chrom shot forwards, clashing with the larger blade of the axe as Gangrel defended himself.

"Well, that's a neat flaming sword, but it ain't enough to stop me!" Gangrel grunted as he shoved Chrom back, rushing forward and following through with a slash at his head. It came out so fast that Chrom had to duck underneath it just to dodge it, jumping back to dodge the second sweep before clashing with the third as Gangrel swung down him.

"What's the matter? You're not gonna dodge anymore? Looks like that burning fire of yours is gonna screw you over!" Gangrel gave him a killer's grin as he pressed down upon Chrom, who started to lose control over the struggle as his own sword started to lean towards his neck. For such a heavy weapon, Gangrel swung and slammed it as if it was nothing heavier than a sword like his own. Chrom had no choice but to push back from the hilt, or else he'd burn himself with his own blade.

Yet strangely, even this close to his neck, the fire didn't seem to be that hot at all to him. It wasn't burning him. It wasn't _hurting_ him.

"Maybe that's not the case!" Chrom put his right hand on the upper half of the blade, and just as he suspected, no harm came to him. He shoved back against Gangrel, but Gangrel kept pushing back, fighting to overpower him and kill him.

"Lon'qu, help me out!" Chrom shouted.

"On it!" Lon'qu rushed him down as he switched blades, drawing and slashing the Balmung in one stroke. He forced Gangrel to back off from Chrom, parrying his blade with a swing of his axe to stop it from cutting his stomach. Chrom got back on his feet and made a swipe for his chest that Gangrel barely dodged, who swung with the back of his axe in retaliation before jumping backwards to get away.

"You're wide open!" Gangrel said as he placed his hand on the book attached to his belt. A bolt of electricity formed around it as he short-hopped backwards and spun back around, firing off a wave of lightning at both the two of them.

"Duck!" Lon'qu said as they narrowly avoided the wide, thundering arc that passed by his and Chrom's heads.

"There we go!" Gangrel threw his hand down and hurled a sphere of Mjolnir's lightning. It slipped through the space between the two of them, surging after Gangrel's true target, Reflet.

"Reflet!" Chrom shouted. Damn it, not again!

Reflet screamed as she braced herself with her arms when Frederick hastily broke formation to sprint after her. He dropped down and slammed a hand upon the ground, forcing a wall of earth to rise in front of her. It took the lightning blast, with its top part exploding into chunks of rock and tile that went flying behind them as Frederick grabbed her and held her steady.

"I've got her right here!" Frederick shouted as he waved his lance. "Keep fighting, everyone!"

"Right!" Chrom said, turning to Lon'qu. "Follow my lead! Get behind him!"

Lon'qu nodded back as both rushed at the king, whose gigantic axe slashed at the both of them once approached. Chrom leaped over it and into the air, while Lon'qu held his blade up and weaved underneath as together they dodged the swing. 

"What's this game you're playing?" Gangrel twisted around as Lon'qu slid behind him, Balmung readied. One man rose above him, while the other stood across and underneath him.

"Aetherrr!" Chrom came down upon Gangrel, slamming his sword down onto the axe that rose upwards to strike back as sparks flew and metal crashed upon metal.

"Astra!" Lon'qu slashed forwards as a green trail followed his blade's patterns. He unleashed a blinding blitz of five strikes all aimed at Gangrel, who had hardly the time nor was in a good position to defend. Still, Gangrel managed to bounce three strikes off with the shaft and pointed tip of his axe, receiving only two sharp slashes across his leg and chest as he stumbled backwards.

"Damn!" he cursed out. Gangrel jumped backwards, covering his chest wound before he started to retreat to where more of his guards stood. "We need more reinforcements over here!"

"Let's go after him!" Chrom said, getting ready to rush in when Lon'qu pulled him back.

"It's too risky, besides, look above!" Lon'qu pointed to the sky above the statue, where the wings of Pegasi started to descend in front of them.

"The knights are here!" Frederick shouted.

"And I just took out the last archer!" Ricken called out as he slung one last thunderbolt at a guard firing from the wall and took them out.

"I'm calling them in!" Frederick said as he beckoned with his hand raised high. Phila, Cordelia and every single one of the Pegasus Knights with them descended over the battlefield, hovering just above Emmeryn as one dropped down and undid her chains.

"Pegasus Knights! Now that just ain't fair!" Gangrel pointed to the sky. "Somebody stop them! We can't lose the chip we have!"

"We're taking Her Grace with us!" Phila said, pointing her lance towards the gates leading out of the courtyard. "Get out of here now! Knights, assist the Shepherds until we secure her!"

"Roger that!" Chrom said, turning back to his squad. "Everyone, start evacuating once they take Emmeryn with them!"

Chrom and the Shepherds gave one last shout as they continued their assault, now assisted by Ylisse's royal fliers who threw javelins, fired magic and rained arrows from the sky. The Plegians on foot were retreating in droves into the hallway for cover, giving the Shepherds and Knights free reign to take Emmeryn with them and escape.

The Pegasus Knight who dropped down freed the last shackle chained to Emmeryn, jumping off the side the walkway to land on her horse that waited for her.

"Come on! Get up here!" she said, bringing her horse back around as she hovered right in front of Emmeryn. "You're going to be safe!"

Emmeryn reached her hand up to take the arm of the Knight and pull herself onto the Pegasus. After which she'd be taken back to safety and the fighting would all come to an end.

But those thoughts—every hope for her to escape unharmed, for the fighting to end as quickly as it started—all of them were erased in a single moment as something shone from the main doors of the castle proper. A dark beam—no, an arrow of twisted light shot upwards and pierced both horse and rider in a single stroke. It surged forwards as it arced higher and higher and higher into the sky like a shooting star in the sunset, fading into nothing but a stardust-like sparkle. 

The knight was launched off her horse as the both of them shot backwards, rising before shooting down to the earth.

"Wait, no!" Chrom shouted. "No!"

He looked towards the doors of the castle proper, where a man stood arched over and in front of an open door. His spiky hair, gray like a cloud of ash, was held up by a black crown in the back keeping it together. His eyes hid behind a black visor, hiding them from Chrom. A coat of black and grey wolf furs split open at his waist, showing off his white pants and the gold-colored robes covering his neck and chest that turned into an orange gradient near the bottom.

He twirled in his hands a white and silver bow that shined like moonlight. But its string was nothing like anything he'd ever seen. It was made of pure, twisted energy, the same kind as the arrow that shot the knight. That same aura trailed off of him in a swirl of purple, cyan and vicious white energy, disappearing into the air like vapor.

"And that's one…" he said, grinning as he twirled his bow once more. "Did you see that shot? If the fall didn't delete her, the shot through the heart certainly did. What do you think?"

"Who in Naga's name is this?" Gangrel said as he stepped out from behind the statue with a wide grin plastered on his face.

"I'm pleased to know you're satisfied with our reinforcements," Aversa said, smiling as she stepped out from behind him. "Now's your time to show everyone what you're capable of." 

"Glad to help." The man spun his bow around once more before he drew on his string, raising it up as a dark arrow took form.

"Soldiers! Get back outside and fight!" Gangrel ordered. The guards rushed out from the left castle hall all at once, rallying their own cries as they turned the tables on them.

"Fall back, fall back!" Chrom ordered, leading the Shepherds away from both the archer firing and the third wave of soldiers charging at them. Frederick and some of the others held the frontline, sticking their necks out to keep them at bay.

"I got a shot!" the archer said as he raised his bow even higher, aiming at the blonde-haired flier trying to make a break for Emmeryn.

"Bullseye!" he said, letting his arrow fly towards her at an incredible speed.

"Wait—!" The flier reined in her horse, trying to dodge out of the way when suddenly she vanished into a beam of light.

"Huh?" she said as she reappeared on the ground alongside her horse. "I'm alive? What just happened?"

She looked to her right to see Liz with her head down, gripping her staff so tightly she might've snapped it in half. As Liz bit on her lip until it bled and shed a tear from her eye, her right hand opened as a vortex of flames whirled above her palm. 

"She's coming back with us one way or another!" she shouted, pitching forth a fire wave that hurled at the archer who fired at the two Pegasus Knights. She fired forth a second wave and immediately threw a third one behind it to take him down.

The archer dodged the first wave as it splashed into sparks upon hitting the door behind him, quickly rolling to the side to dodge the second one. But the third fireball came at him too quickly for him to avoid, so he knocked an arrow and fired it straight into its center. The pillar of flame split apart into two and yet it still kept rushing at him, with one half even scorching the arm he raised to cover his face as it grazed him.

"Hmph," the archer grunted out as he forced himself off his knees, stumbling before he stood up in the fires. "Rescue spells, huh? Never really liked how pesky those staves were. This girl seems annoying. Let's fix that."

Immediately he drew his bow and fired off a snapshot in retaliation. It bolted towards them with Liz in its sights, only to be stopped by the floor rising in front of her like it did with Reflet. The shield of earth blocked the hit, breaking in half but deflecting the bolt and shooting it into the sky.

Frederick created a larger wall in front of all of them, providing some temporary cover for them against the archer's attacks. "We can't do anything while that archer is focused on us! We need to take him out!"

The archer stepped down the staircase leading from the doors, walking closer to them as he drove an arrow into the wall of earth and cracked a large hole in it. The bolt kept going, striking Lon'qu in the left arm before piercing past him. Lon'qu shouted, grabbing his arm as the arrow smashed the side of one of the pillars behind them and broke a chunk of it off. 

"Lon'qu!" Chrom called out.

"I'm fine!" he said, sucking the pain through his teeth. "Just get me healed!"

"Here, I got you!" Maribelle grabbed him by the right arm and pulled him out of the way while healing the wounds on the other. He looked visibly uncomfortable as she did so, but nodded his head as she closed the wound with magic and bandaged him up.

"Can you still fight?" Chrom said to him.

"Yeah, my right arm's still fine." Lon'qu pulled himself away from Maribelle, rubbing his patched arm. "I can try something against him, but I'm going to need some back up!"

"Righ—"

Before Chrom could even get the word out, Liz was already speaking way ahead of him.

"Then let's take him out!" Liz ordered, pointing towards the left where the majority of their enemies clashed with their allies. "Frederick! Lead the others and keep the main forces off of us and the Pegasus Knights while we take him down!" 

"Woah," Chrom said, nodding his head. "Yeah! Do as she says!" 

"Wait!" Reflet called out, rushing over to them as she ducked behind the wall. "Liz, if you get taken out, you can't rescue Emmeryn!"

"There won't be anyone to rescue if we don't stop him!" Liz argued, pointing to the left. "Now go help Frederick! He needs backup!"

Reflet took a step back, staring at Liz before she nodded her head. "No, you're right!" She got up from behind the wall and ran, joining the rest of the others in the main fight.

With his back turned to the wall, Lon'qu raised his Balmung into the air and pointed it downwards. "Shooting Star Astra!"

A surge of green aura roared around him as he gripped his blade and prepared to rush in. "You two, follow after me!"

"Got it!" Chrom and Liz answered.

Lon'qu bolted out from the cracked crevice in the wall and towards the castle entrance as several afterimages trailed behind him. 

"Huh?" The spiky-haired archer was in the middle of firing his next arrow as he narrowly sidestepped out of harm's way from an incredibly quick sweep going for his arm, clashing his bow against Lon'qu's blade as the swordsman kept the pressure on with a second lunge.

"And you are? Some kind of mystic samurai?" the archer said through clenched teeth as he tried to back away. "Where have I seen that before, heh-heh!"

With his bow still drawn, the archer pulled the blight arrow upwards and fired it down at Lon'qu's feet while backing off. Lon'qu immediately lifted his foot as he dodged out of the way of the arrow that shattered the floor, lunging forward as he swept his blade upwards.

"Release!" Lon'qu shouted out as two spectral, energy versions of him shot towards the archer, alongside a third that appeared at the tail-end of his swing. The archer grunted as he ducked underneath the first one's flurry of cuts and narrowly rolled away from the second one's wide sweep. 

"What the hell is this?" he said as the third one came at him. The clone of Lon'qu lunged forward, grazing him across the hand before fading away as the archer jumped to the right.

The archer let out another growl when a rush of wind passed him. It was Chrom, who hung in the air with his sword raised, having blasted over from the wall with a dashing jump while the archer was distracted.

"Don't think it's over!" Chrom said, slashing forwards just as the archer lifted the hand he held his bow in.

"Nice try!" the archer said as their weapons clashed against each other. He caught the attack, lifting his left leg before kicking Chrom in the stomach. He shoved Chrom's sword out of the way with his bow as he stepped forward and elbowed him in the chin, knocking him to the side.

He was about to draw his bowstring when he was hit in the chest by a sudden fireball. He clutched his stomach, staring through his visor at the caster who growled in fury as she stretched her hand forwards.

Liz seethed as the flames in her palm crackled and tripled in size. "Get the hell out of here!" she said as she threw her hand upwards. Spiraling pillars of flame formed at the feet of the archer. He jumped off the ground before it could scorch him, yet it shot after him as Liz swiped her hand to the left, the same way he dodged.

Chrom propped himself up with his sword to see Lon'qu rushing after the archer, who continued to run and jump out of the way of every flame pillar Liz assaulted him with. The whole area in front of the staircase was being set ablaze as the archer jumped away from another pillar, dashing towards Lon'qu as he strung together another bolt of blight energy and fired it off. Lon'qu twisted his neck and body out of the way of the bolt, avoiding it as it cracked the wall behind and even destroyed the foundation of one of the pillars in the courtyard completely. The archer slashed his bow downwards as he reached Lon'qu, struggling against his blade as Lon'qu fought back. That's when Chrom got off his feet and rushed towards him, but as he slashed at him the archer leaped backwards into the air, backflipping as he drew his bow. 

"White Flame: Beginning Hurricane!" he said as he turned back on his head. His bow shined a brilliant white light, radiating like tendrils of sunlight amidst the red flames as he fired his bowstring repeatedly, sending a volley of light arrows down at Lon'qu, Liz and Chrom.

"Get back!" Chrom said as the arrows started coming down. He kicked off the ground and shot backwards, grabbing Liz as he super-jumped towards the earthen wall while Lon'qu made a break for it at lightning-speeds. He raised the Queensfang, his shoulder-plate, and most of his arm as a last ditch shield to protect his sister and what little he could of himself, getting stabbed by a rain of several arrow darts of pure white light along his right side as he landed, scraping his back as he slid across the floor.

Even before he got up, Liz had already got to work getting herself off of him so that she could heal his wounds with healing magic. She then immediately went to Lon'qu, healing the wounds to his leg that he sustained from the arrowstorm. 

"Ghh-h… thank you Liz," Chrom said as he got back on his knees, catching his breath. Thankfully, the arrows dissipated soon after they struck them, so Liz was able to seal their wounds rather quickly. But if the archer came at them and used that attack again, any one of them could turn into a goner.

But right then, something terrible happened as there was a loud shrieking sound from above. He and the others turned their heads up to see a dark bolt zapping through the red sky over them, ripping the air as it rushed forward across the courtyard.

There was another scream. Another pillar collapsing.

"Phila!" the blonde pegasus knight—Skye was her name. She was back in the air—screamed out as she reached her hand below.

"No!" Cordelia screamed. She stopped her pegasus as it kept them aloft on its own. "Philaaa! Philaaaaaaaaa!"

She turned her horse around, looking down in horror at her fallen commander. "Philaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Phila… No!" Chrom's eyes widened. "No! Nothing was supposed to happen to her!"

Cordelia screamed as she covered her mouth, turning back around as she stared down at the archer who now stood atop the staircase. She blazed towards him from atop her horse as she slung wind slice after wind slice at the ground below.

"Cordelia, get back here! It's too dangerous to take him head on!" Skye called out, trying to catch up to her only to stop once Cordelia went too far from her position. Cordelia didn't even listen to her at all as she cried out and fired again, trying to take down Phila's killer.

The archer sidestepped one of the blades that crashed down upon him, drawing his bow again as another bolt formed.

Chrom's heart raced as he watched the man, beating even faster when his body acted without thinking. He rocketed towards the archer, slamming his sword into the man's bow just before he shot his arrow upwards. The arrow flew by the wayside, missing Cordelia completely before it struck the tallest watchtower of the castle. It sliced a clean chunk of the top off, sending it flying behind the castle.

"No! There's no way you're taking Cordelia from me!" Chrom slid his sword underneath his bow and ripped it out of his two hands, sending it flying into the air just like the towerhead. It landed upon the ground at the base of the staircase, far away from the man whom Chrom kicked in the head and slammed into the wall between the two front doors of the castle.

"Crap," the man said. Now he sat slumped in front of the wall, weaponless and chuckling. "That was a strong kick. I'll admit, I let myself get carried away again."

He looked up at Chrom through his visor which was now cracked but not completely, giving a small smile. "Hope you got more of that in you."

Chrom growled at him as he ran forwards, ready to deliver the final blow when the man gave a sharp grin of a wolf. A sudden growth of branches sprouted in front of him, shooting upwards and knocking Chrom's sword out of the way.

The archer laughed as he stood up, reaching up as his bow suddenly fell from the sky and back into his hand. Chrom looked on in surprise when the man twirled his bow, sending a thicker branch and striking him in the chest with the force of a hammer, sending him stumbling down the staircase. 

He slid and scraped himself along the way down, stopping himself by grabbing onto one of the steps and pushing himself up with his hands and feet. He wiped the blood off his face as he stood back up, staring at the second person appearing from the door.

"Maybe I should've joined in with you," he said, "although you did say to let you have some fun. I didn't want to get in the way of your little hunt."

The man standing next to the archer had short, blonde hair with a black, draconic crown atop of it. He wore black armor with golden highlights adorning it, and a short cloak over it which had a hood which covered his head. On his back he carried a sheathed arming sword with an icy-colored hilt. A visor covered his face, similar to his ally's though completely made of metal, with slits for his eyes to see from. It curved upwards at the middle, covering his forehead like a fractured piece of a rider's helmet.

He held an open book within his hand, one dark and purple with gold lining its leather cover. An aura alternating between black, cyan and violet dissipated from the book's pages, as that same aura pulsed within the branches beside him and seeped off of them.

"Calling fighting that makes it sound nowhere near as serious as it should be," the archer said.

"Perhaps so, but that doesn't make it not true, you little brat," the mage answered.

The archer scoffed. "Get over here, fuckface."

"You'd like that wouldn't you, dickbag?" The mage snarked back. The branches slithered back into the ground, letting the man walk up to the other man.

The archer grinned, hopping from one foot to the other before spinning his bow twice. "We have a job to do, asshole."

"You're right about that." The mage looked down at Chrom and raised his hand. The books of his pages turned on its own as both it and his hand were enshrouded by a dark, swirling flame that grew larger as it started to take shape.

"Hellfire!" 

A dark wave of fire hurled downwards, yet it ripped apart before it could even reach him thanks to a blade of wind from above. Another fireball raged, coming from behind Chrom and shooting up the staircase before bursting upon a wall of thorned branches that caught aflame as the mage sent them forth to protect himself and the archer. Liz and Lon'qu reentered the battle as Lon'qu rushed up the steps, charging with Chrom as they both went after the archer who came running at them in kind. 

However, another wave of branches creeped from a pool of darkness forming at the ground in front of the archer's feet just before their blades and his bow met. The branches slashed the air above them like they were whips before shooting towards the both of them, forcing them to jump to opposite sides to avoid them. Yet the whips sped towards Chrom, catching him by the leg and binding him in place like a chain as they pulled him forwards. 

Another set of branches sprung from the ground as the archer dashed onto them and jumped as they shot upwards, leaping into the air and behind both Lon'qu and Chrom himself.

"Gotcha now!" the archer shouted as he turned around and readied a shot at the same time. He aimed down at Chrom as he fell, only to spin right back around and lift his bow upwards.

He grinned as his eyes met Cordelia's, who's own eyes flared as she swerved around and began to retreat. His twisted bolt flew from his fingers, sending it darting towards the red-headed flier.

"Cordelia! No, Cordelia!" Chrom's blade almost slipped from his hand as all he could do was desperately call out her name and reach out his hand in futility.

Yet someone else was already on their way, having rushed straight for her the moment the archer aimed for her.

"Cordelia! Cordelia!" Skye called out as she whipped her horse and sped along the wind. She braced herself as she got close, pulling on her horse's reins as she tackled Cordelia's with her own. She knocked Cordelia out of the way of the beam of darkness, taking her place as its target.

Cordelia's horse spun and crashed downwards, shakily landing back on the ground and knocking Cordelia off of her back. Cordelia's neck and back slammed into the ground so forcefully she bounced and hit the ground again, crying out in the single second that she was in the air for. She struggled to even so much as lift her arms up when she saw the look in Skye's eyes moments before the arrow pierced her.

"Sorry!" Skye said just before the arrow ripped through her body. She fell to the ground, landing several meters away from Cordelia.

Tears swelled in Cordelia's eyes as she got on her knees. She crawled over to her, struggling to not drop back on the ground. "Skye! Skye!"

"No…" Chrom said as he watched Cordelia get up on her legs, going after Skye before grabbing her. Everything happened so quickly. It wasn't more than a couple seconds— 

A dark flame rushed by Chrom as he watched everything happening below. It hurled towards his younger sister, who watched everything that happened just as he did. She screamed in pain as it struck her in the chest, raising an arm while covering her stomach with the other.

The mage behind him shouted loudly as he crashed his hands together, "Black Flame: Strangling End!"

A pool of darkness appeared as two dead trees sprouted out and wrapped around Liz. A purple mist evaporated off of them as they entangled around her arms and limbs and squeezed tightly. A branch from each tree grew in length, slithering over to her back and lifting the white staff she carried with her above her head.

They wrapped around the ends of the staff and forcefully bent down upon it. The staff flew into the air as it shattered apart, landing away from Lissa as two fragments of a broken hole.

"Lissa!" Chrom shouted. Lon'qu sprinted for her, and Chrom tried to do so as well only to be pulled back by the branches still holding onto him. He looked down and the branches as he tightly gripped his blade, lifting it up in the air.

"Aether!" He said as he swung down upon the dead branches. His blade caught aflame as it slashed and burned them apart. The branches withered and turned to ash, letting him go and allowing him to run down towards her.

"I can't get her free!" Lon'qu said as he tried to get his now unconscious sister out of the branches strangling her, failing to cut the branches apart. Chrom rushed over and tried everything he could to snap and break them, but nothing worked. 

Not until he looked at the sword in his hands again and the red flames crackling off of it. But no. No. He shouldn't. He should never even have to consider doing that. Even so much as a cut to the branches could very well injure her if he made a single misstep, or the flames could spread to her or even worse.

But he didn't have any other option but to use it if he wanted to save her. As he prayed that she would be able to live through it, his heart sank as he made the decision to do something he'd regret.

Chrom put his hand upon the flat part of his blade and pushed it onto the branches strangling his sister's waist. They set ablaze, burning brightly in red flames as they withered away and Liz fell down from them. Chrom quickly caught her in his arms, yet was surprised to see that not a single flicker of Aether's flames had harmed her. He didn't know why, but thank Naga, she was safe.

Yet the relief in his heart made it all the more hard for him to take what came next. Dark arrows rained forwards, one after the other for a total of nine in rapid succession. He heard cries from above as each one pierced through the remaining Pegasus Knights. The southwest corner of the castle wall collapsed as collateral damage from the attack, loudly crumbling as the debris fell apart.

Chrom closed his eyes as he held Liz tighter, turning over to Lon'qu. "We need to get to Frederick and Reflet, now!"

The two of them made a breakaway from the front doors of the castle, nearly making it to the cracked wall when suddenly a man jumped out from behind it and swung a large axe in front of his face. 

"Guess who!" he shouted, stopping his swing just short of cutting Chrom's head clean off. 

Gangrel smirked. "This battle's over."


	23. The Fading of Light - Part 3

Gangrel called for a ceasefire, motioning for the archer and mage to come down. He lifted his axe, resting it upon his back as he turned around. 

"Let's get out of this run down spot, shall we?" he said.

The archer behind Chrom silently strung his bow, forming an arrow bolt ready to be fired. So Chrom complied, stepping forwards and walking after Gangrel through the ruins of the courtyard until they reached the middle of it. Everyone around them had all stopped fighting, and now their eyes turned to the two of them. The only ones who still moved at this point were the healers from both sides, trying to save whoever they could that was on their side.

"You're cornered, Prince," Gangrel said as he turned back to face Chrom. "My archer's got a clean shot at your back and if you so much as try anything funny I'll order him to break you like he did everyone else."

Chrom narrowed his eyes, half tempted to deck the bastard in the face even now if not for the fact he was carrying his sister in his arms. 

He looked down at Liz, and his anger vanished as he ran a hand over her face. There were rips all along her dress from the branches that ensnared her, and a large hole burned into its side from the fireball that struck her. Her dress was completely ruined, and even one of her pigtails got singed during the attack. But she was still breathing. She wasn't getting any worse than how she was now.

"Get the girl out of the way. Make the speedster carry her to a healer or something. It won't change anything." Gangrel snapped his fingers, flicking his index at Lon'qu and then to the mage at his back.

"As you say, Your Majesty," the mage said with a nod. He took Liz from his hands and gave her to the swordsman. He ordered him to go to where Maribelle was, who rushed to her aid before Lon'qu could even reach him.

Chrom watched as Maribelle broke into tears as she set Liz on the ground, getting straight to work on keeping her stable. He turned away, clenching his fist in silence.

"I'll admit, I've seen enough drunkards in jail to be fooled by your little stunt two days ago," Gangrel said. "But that doesn't matter anymore. You and whatever this group of yours that follows you is called have lost."

He narrowed his own eyes, stepping up to Chrom's face as he glared at his. "You see this? Look at where we are now. Take a look at all this crap around us!" he said as he threw his hand backwards. "My palace is destroyed, and now my soldiers and yours are now either injured or dead! Get a good look at all the shit that's happened because of what you've done! All I wanted was to get you and your damn sister's country to work with me, and look what I get for reaching my hand out! I get you, trying to be an arrogant little shit! You just had to go ahead and pick fights with me, didn't you?!"

"What I've done?" Chrom said, getting closer as he raised his fist up. "What about all the things you've done? You spin lies around to make yourself look innocent and then you blame me for the stuff you did, just like you did in front of everyone! How dare you claim everything is my fault when you're the man who's been looking for excuses to restart a war!?"

"Bullshit! All of that is nothing but bullshit!" Gangrel stomped his foot and dug his nails into his fist when he lifted his head and laughed. "I didn't know lying was hereditary, because it sure seems to be inherited in you!"

"Shut up! You don't even know anything about me! I already told you the truth and you spat in my face for it!"

"Cause your truths are nothing but pretentious lies! And I know enough about you to know that you're the same bastard as your father who's only good trait is causing fights, starting problems and killing people! None of this would've needed to happen if you were actually capable of keeping your bandit of a noble in check! But you had to go make your temper tantrums, didn't you!? Some prince you are! All you'll be known for by the time you die is that you started a war and were the next in line in a line of disasters! Be proud of that!"

Chrom's anger seethed through his teeth as he shouted back at him, "You're lucky I can't just beat you down right where you stand!"

"You won't!" Gangrel shouted. He flared his hands up, shaking his head with a wild smirk. "You won't fucking do it! I'll beat the shit out of you right now! Let's go! I don't give a fuck! I've beaten more asses then you've beaten your meat!"

Chrom threw his fist forwards as he grabbed Gangrel by the shirt, ready to knock the bastard into the ground. Gangrel grabbed his shirt and threw his fist in kind, aiming to counter the blow with another blow.

"Stop this, please!"

They stopped just short of striking the other when they heard someone call out from above. Chrom turned his eyes up, watching as Emmeryn looked down at them with the fiercest look in her eyes.

* * *

"Do you both not see how senseless such a fight would be at this point?" she said to her brother and the king who were at each other's throats. "This battle has already ended. Let go of one another."

Her eyes softened as she looked at everything below. One corner of the castle wall completely gave way, leaving a massive hole that left a portion of the inner city in clear view. Ylisseans and Plegians alike suffered from their injuries. A bruised Cordelia hung her head down in terror as she healed the blonde woman at her knees, trying to keep the other Pegasus Knight alive to her best efforts. Frederick's armor was in shambles from his fight with King Gangrel. Its breastplate cracked and large sections were removed from it. His left arm's pauldron received heavy dents, while the right was left in such a barely recognizable state that it had to be discarded upon the ground. Her shirt had been torn open by a wide swipe to her left. Kneeling down beside him with one hand on the ground, Reflet wasn't that much better off in comparison. Her pants were ripped apart, and her face and knees were covered in bloody scratches and dirt.

Her own knights were dead. Phila, was dead. Oh gods, Phila was dead now. She'd known her almost as long as she knew Frederick. 

Dear gods, she's dead. Emmeryn covered her lips with her hand. biting down on them as she sobbed so quietly it could not be heard by the others. She took a deep breath and let go of her bite, looking back down at the two men far below.

Chrom and Gangrel stared up at her, before Gangrel quickly stepped away from her brother. 

"You're right!" Gangrel said, dusting off the white shirt under his vest with a hand. "Such a fight would have no purpose. I'd rather not waste my energy."

"But let's not distract ourselves with things that don't matter!" he said, pointing to Chrom. "The fact is that I won and your brother lost!"

"Yet look around us," Emmeryn said, lowering her hand. "Look at all of those who have suffered. All who have died. Can we truly claim this is a victory?"

Gangrel scanned the courtyard with his eyes, staring once again at all the injured and fallen around him.

"Sometimes, you need a little bit of sacrifices to protect the bigger picture…" He chuckled nervously, before he quickly shook his head and hardened his eyes. "Besides! It's not like I wanted this fight to happen! It was you and that brother of yours who decided to attack my kingdom today!"

"She didn't have any part in this!" Chrom said. "I was the one who planned the attack, so don't you blame her for any of this!"

"W-whatever!" Gangrel said, tilting his head away from Chrom. "It doesn't matter who started it!"

"It truly does not…" Emmeryn said, her eyes half-lidded as she looked at everyone below again. "No matter what we justify ourselves with or who started it, the truth is that these people who've died may never come back. Whether we're doing it for the sake of protecting others or some greater purpose, it is by fighting one another that we end up stealing the lives of others in pursuit of those goals. Those lives belonged to people with their own goals. People with dreams and families. They're all now gone."

Some of the crowd from earlier started returning to the castle, alongside the general and the mage that evacuated them. Together they watched from the distant entrance and through the newly torn fracture in the wall, far away from Chrom, Gangrel and herself.

"Gangrel," Emmeryn said as she lifted her head back to him, "is there no true way to end this fighting between our countries?"

Gangrel drew his eyebrows together as his mouth parted slightly. Then he lurched his head back, letting out a scoff. "Hah! Don't you see, Exalt? All I have to do is give the order and my guards will take down every last one of your brother's squad!"

"And what if the Shepherds somehow still manage to escape?" Emmeryn said. "What then? And even if they did not, it's just as Libra said. There are those who will not only mourn today's deaths but become embittered by them, and it would be the same for my own death, as well. The people of Ylisse may still retaliate for what will happen by the end of today, and the war may drag on for who knows how long. And even once this war ends, a new war may spark out of the hatred and desire for revenge seeded within our hearts."

"Agh…" Gangrel rasped out. He turned his head to the floor and growled under his breath, before lifting his head back up as he pointed his finger at Chrom. "Well you know what I think? I think that if you want peace, then your allegiance is not enough after the shit this asshole pulled!" 

Gangrel snarled at Chrom. "Maybe back then I would've been fine with just holding onto your sword, but not after this! No, if you want your sister back, then give me your Relic. Give me every and any Legendary Relic in the hands of a Ylissean. Whether they're nobles or street rats or whatever! I don't give a crap! I'm taking them all from you! So do all that, Prince, and maybe I'll consider sparing your ass!"

"Like anyone of us could trust you with them!" Chrom shot back. "I'd be handing you all the power in the world you'd need to destroy my entire kingdom! What would you even do with them beyond just killing everyone I know?"

"You see that right there?" Gangrel said as he pointed again at Chrom. "That's why we're in this shit! You're an insufferable asshole!"

"And you're a lying bastard!" Chrom shouted back.

Emmeryn watched Gangrel and her brother continue to argue and insult one another. "...I see something." 

It started to look like they might never agree with one another. And so long as the fighting would continue, more people would die. More people would come to hate each other and continue hurting each other from that hate. Just like back then, and just what her own family went through because of what her father did. She thought it was possible to put those days of pain and famine behind her, but now it seemed like war would only keep haunting everyone once again.

There must be something she could do to stop that. Even if she was one person, and a person minutes away from execution, there must be.

She looked down at Maribelle, and then at Cordelia. And then at Lissa, at Ricken, Sully, Gaius, Kellam and Sol. At everyone she met and had come to adore as her friends and family. She was their queen, of all things. She had to protect them. What kind of queen was she if she did nothing to spare them for future horrors?

Emmeryn looked over to the people gathering around the outside of the courtyard who watched the events unfolding, including the warrior and the black-haired mage. Regardless of what happened back then with them and the actions of her father, and what was currently happening between Plegia and Ylisse now, they did not deserve this suffering either. She wished to protect them just as much as she wished to protect her own people. Who they were or where they were from didn't matter to her. They were innocent people, like the many she knew back in Ylisse. They did nothing to deserve such suffering and loss of life.

...If their countries' leaders could not be reached, then perhaps, perhaps she could reach their people instead. Reaching out to people was what she's been trying to do all her life. It was all she really had at this point.

"Plegians!" she said, turning to the people in the crowds. 

"What the? What is she doing now?" Gangrel stopped arguing with Chrom as he looked up at her once more.

"I… I'm not sure," Chrom said. 

"Hear me out, please," Emmeryn said. "Every single one of you here struggled to survive under the shadow of my father. I know this to be true, because it was the same thing my own family experienced when we were but children. Everyone experienced it in the country of Ylisse. The war, the famines, and the banditry were all things we've gone through. And you have all experienced worse than us, as it was my father that attacked your very country, stole your riches and killed your men for the sake of vanquishing the supposed evil lurking within your country. At least, that was the reason he gave."

"He is long since dead," she said, inhaling a breath, "and perhaps that is for the better. Because at the very least, the war was able to end, and peace was able to return as a result. Though the peace was not earned easily. There were many days and many years filled with hardships as people hoped to recover. I have seen adults and children, nobles and commoners alike struggle to keep themselves from starving, and have seen many grieve over the deaths of their loved ones they lost. Some were taken from us when they were conscripted to fight in the war, while others were killed in the bandit raids that began due to the famines brought to our countries… Even my own mother was lost to one such raid."

Emmeryn pulled her eyes away from the crowd, looking over her shoulder. "I cannot speak for my father, nor for what he has done. But as the Exalt of Ylisse after him, and as the daughter who's seen what he's done firsthand, I am deeply sorry for what you have suffered." She lifted her head back up, staring back at every one of them. "And I know, I know that words may never be enough. Words alone cannot heal every scar you've suffered. Even now, you may still hate my country. You may hate me. And who's to say such hatred isn't justified after everything my father did to you? Who's to say you should forgive Ylisse or me? Those are things that you must come to your own conclusions for."

Emmeryn looked down at all the Shepherds at the ground below. All her friends. They all gave her the same kind of look of awe mixed with dread.

"Frederick," she said to him.

It took a moment for Frederick to reply to her, as he stared at her, choking out a gasp with a hung jaw and his widened brown eyes. "...Yes Milady?"

Hearing him call her that again brought a happy smile to her face that she couldn't stop herself from making. As she turned her body towards the walkway in order to face him, a pain went through her heart as she processed her own thoughts.

She opened her mouth to speak, though she found herself unable to make more than a wordless gasp. Her cheeks turned pink as she realized something: this was much harder than she thought it would be.

This probably wasn't the best time for it, either. In fact, it was probably one of the worst times possible. She hoped to at least wait a couple of months longer when she was more comfortable, but then this war broke out and things spiraled from there. And while she thought about saying it when she was still in her cell, she wasn't actually in front of him at the time.

Maybe she shouldn't say it, actually. Doing so might spare him from pain that he didn't deserve.

But, leaving things unsaid might hurt him even more. What if he kept thinking "but that if she did?" And what if he carried that thought with him for the rest of his life? Especially considering how much of a devoted person he was, such pain could hurt him for far longer than the pain of him knowing the truth.

And not only that, he deserved to know. At least she could grant him that.

"I-I-I…" Emmeryn took a quick, deep breath in before releasing it out, doing it once more. 

"I love you," she said. "Know that you were my most beloved knight. There isn't another person out there that I would've wanted to spend my life with."

Frederick straightened his back, staring up at her as tears fell from his eye. "Emmy…"

She took another breath as she turned her away from him, feeling like she just ripped her own heart in half. She covered her mouth as she stifled another gasp, hiding her tears from him as they fell to the walkway at her feet.

She was never going to hear him say that again, wasn't she?

But she couldn't stop to cry right now, there were still things she needed to say before it'd be too late. She still needed to keep going. 

"Reflet," she said, wiping her face as she lifted her head back up.

"Yes Emmeryn?" Reflet said, nodding her head.

"You're a sweet girl," she said, bringing her hand towards her. "Take care of my siblings for me, okay? Take care of everyone while I'm away. Be there for them."

Reflet shied her head as she spoke, "...You want me to do that? How could I even do that?"

Emmeryn smiled. "I'm sure you'll figure out some way. I know you will."

"Chrom," she said, looking down at her brother. He said nothing to her as he stood next to Gangrel, both standing far away from her, frozen and silent.

She closed her eyes shut. "I love you, Chrom. Both you and Lissa are my everything. The blood of heroes before us flows strong in us. I know that you will use it to keep Ylisse safe. I believe it with all my heart. I have to go now. I'm sorry, I truly am."

"...What?" Chrom said. "What are you saying? You're going… now?"

"Safe journey, Chrom."

That was all she had left to say. She opened her eyes, turning to the crowds of people one last time.

"People of Plegia! And from Ylisse!" Emmeryn said. "I ask only one thing from all of you here. I ask that you hear the truth in my words. Even if you may never forgive us, I ask that you free yourselves from this hatred! From this cycle of pain and vengeance! Do what you must, as I will do. See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world!"

No one said anything once she was finished with her words. They did not praise her, or curse at her and decry her, or hurl stones at her.

Nothing.

_No reaction… Was I wrong, then?_

Emmeryn dropped her eyes to her feet. Maybe she was a fool for thinking her words could change anything. Maybe what she was about to do was even more foolish. The foolish dream of a peace-loving girl who wanted to be like her mother and like the heroes she grew up hearing about.

She turned her head to the left, past the castle wall to take a final look at what she could of the city below. At the many white and black-colored noble houses and the buildings on the levels below. The people standing all around the city, watching the castle. The river that ran around the end of the city, leading towards the south. And beyond that, beyond the city, she could see mountains, grassfields and small villages next to patches of forests and rivers from the high place she stood. 

Plegia wasn't as much of a desert as she was led to believe by her father. There was more to it, more life than just desert and supposed evils.

An eagle screeched from above, drawing her attention as it circled in the air. Other than the few clouds carrying their water, it was the only thing soaring in the sky.

"Hmph," Emmeryn hummed as she smiled and lowered her head. _Chrom, this is some torch I'm passing to you._

But even if she was a fool, it didn't matter to her. If what she was about to do could change people's hearts. If it affects even one person, and stops them from fighting…

Then she'll have succeeded.

"So be it." Emmeryn breathed in, looking back to the end of the walkway and walking towards it. It grew thinner with every step, until so much as a slip of her feet could send her to the ground below.

She took her final step and raised her head, exhaling as she brought her hands together and prayed. Not for herself, but for everyone who she's come to know and love.

It's time for her to go. Emmeryn leaned forward, slipping off the edge before falling downwards.

"...Wait. Wait!" Gangrel shouted as he watched her fall. "Hang on!"

Chrom didn't even say anything as he started running past Gangrel, "Emm!"

His footsteps rang through the courtyard as the only sound beyond the wind and his heavy breathing. "Emmeryn!"

He called out her name again, reaching his hand out in a desperate bid to catch her. "Emmeryn!"

_...Chrom._

Reflet looked up with horror in her eyes, stepping backwards before tripping onto her backside. 

_...Lissa._

Maribelle stood up, holding her sister's hand in a tight grip. Frederick put a hand on his forehead as his head and shoulders slumped slightly.

... _And all of my people._

Emmeryn closed her eyes as Chrom ran faster and faster. The eagle screeched another time, flying into the sunset.

_...Know... that… I loved you…_

* * *

Chrom raced to the top of the staircase, hearing nothing but the wind at his back as he made it to the last step. He stopped running as he looked down at the ground, letting his hand swing down as he collapsed onto his knees. He choked on air as he covered his eyes with his hands.

Tears came forward, running off his face as he cried out his sister's name.

"...Emm."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Welp. Thank you everyone for reading this far, as always. I'm tired, but happy with this chapter. And I hope you all enjoyed this multi-part chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> I had to cut out a few ideas I had planned. The first one was actually the bar fight that Chrom gets into. It would've been hilarious but it would've completely messed with the tone of the chapter. So, unfortunately I had to scrap showing it, which is sad because I've had it planned as early as Ch.12's release. But I still at least wanted it to have happened, so that's why it's referenced as how Chrom got into jail in the first place. The scene is mostly fluff and humor, and was written when Lucina was still planned to be a part of the Shepherds in Plegia. Yes! There was a time where I thought Lucina was going to stay with the Shepherds and wrote for it! Strange, isn't it? 
> 
> Maybe I'll post a separate fic compiling the bonus chapters, with deleted scenes and alternate versions of chapters. I've got a couple in mind that have no place to fit in Pale. One is the bar scene and one is an alternate take on how Chrom gets married that is… Well, you'll have to wait and see that if it ever gets released. If at all.
> 
> Wanna know what was on Gangrel's flashcard? Here you go! https://starwarsintrocreator.kassellabs.io/#!/CMPRbXJBY3XaFr8QSK_6
> 
> Merry Tikimas! Thank you for reading alongside me as we reached the 200k words milestone!


	24. Don't Speak Her Name

The Shepherds hurried through mud so soaked that puddles littered the entire surface of the ground, making it feel as if they were running through an inch-high lake with holes and small crevices where the floor sank into the ground.

"Hurry!" Basilio shouted, beckoning them to move faster as he waved his hand towards his chest. "The carriages will be arriving once we make it to the other side of the Midmire!"

"I'm getting tired, guys!" Reflet's head dipped as she tried to keep going. She used both her hands to flick the rain off her face, only for more to drench her bangs until they covered her eyes.

"A couple of us are falling behind more than we should!" Sully said ahead of them. She turned around, grabbing the exhausted pair of Reflet and Cordelia by the arms and dragging them over to the front of the pack.

Basilio looked back at the Shepherds, and upon seeing quite a few of them lagging behind, he nodded his head accordingly.

"Aye, everyone take a moment to rest!" he said as he planted his metallic, earth-like greataxe into the mud. "We'll continue running in five minutes! And not a moment longer, we can't let those bastards gain on us!"

The Shepherds slowed to a halt and so too did Reflet, whose arms drooped just over her knees as she took heavy breaths. She collapsed to her knees in her fatigue, squatting down while maintaining just enough effort to keep the rest of her body above the watery mud.

"Hey," Sully said, clutching her chest as she breathed with far less intensity compared to herself. "Are you sure we can trust that girl?"

Reflet straightened her back only to trip on her own feet, wobbling backwards. She yelped as she struggled to catch herself, taking another backstep to regain her balance. 

She lifted her head up to face Sully. "Who?" she said, still panting out breaths.

"That one we picked up out of nowhere," Sully said, taking a long and deep breath as she threw her hand behind her. "That thunder mage girl over there!"

"I have a name you know. And you're not very subtle." Tharja leered at her, creeping closer as she stopped running and inhaled through her nose.

"Yeah?" Sully panted out. "Well I don't see many high ranking Plegian officers or whatever it is that you are in our ranks. What's your game, girly? Tryna backstab us for that king of yours?"

"Tharja? No-no!" Reflet shook her head as her body jolted. "She's good!"

"How do you know that?" Sully said. "Sure, she helped us gettin' out of there, but we don't know what she's planning." 

"I could've shot Chrom, you know," Tharja snapped. "If I wanted to stab him in the chest with lightning I could've done that already." 

"Mmhm!" Reflet added. "She saved Chrom! Plus she's my friend!"

Tharja leaned her head back. "Friend?"

"Yeah!" Reflet said, reaffirming her words with a nod.

"Well she saved my liege's life. And she rebelled against our foes," Frederick said as he walked to their side. He ditched what remained of his armor, carrying with him nothing but the silver lance in his hands and his soaked and muddied suit. "Even if Reflet weren't defending her, what she's already done for us is enough to buy my trust currently. If anyone has any questions, save them for when we're out of this mess."

"Aye, the man's got a good head," Basilio said, looking at Sully. "The enemy of our enemy is our friend, ladette. The only thing that matters now is that we keep running. We've got a couple lengths to go if we want to reach the Midmire quickly. If we don't hurry, the Plegian Army will be on our asses soon enough."

"Right…" Reflet said. She lifted her hand to her chest as she caught one last breath. "Let's keep going. We have to get out of here."

The Shepherds kept running, pushing forward to escape this wasteland as quickly as possible.

* * *

"I guess you could say everything just… fell apart?"

"Keheh," Gangrel let out. He stared at Chrom who kneeled in front of his sister, looking at the two with hauntingly wide eyes.

"Keheh. Kekeheheh."

His laugh barely reached both his ears and the ears of others as his shoulders tensed and untensed like a stringed puppet performing for an audience. He brought his eyes to the floor at his feet, finding himself chuckling more and more yet ever so quietly.

Chrom's entire arm shook as his fist tightened. He whispered, keeping his head down. "You think this is funny?"

"Well in a cosmic sort of way, yes," Gangrel said as another chuckle escaped him.

The prince got off his knees, snapping back around. "Well then, Gangrel, is this how you get your sick kicks?!"

At this point, however, Gangrel didn't make a real effort to hear him as he continued to stare and laugh at the floor. 

"Kehahah! Kehahahahah! Kehahahahahah! Well this situation took a nosedive, didn't it?! I didn't expect everything to come crashing down all at once!"

Gangrel lifted his head, staring at the Prince with a hung jaw. He lifted his head higher, watching the fading sunset. 

"Kehahahahahahahahah! Kekehahahahahahahahahahhhhh!"

He snapped his head back down, his smile fading as quick as it formed. He stared at Chrom like a stiff mannequin before he clenched down on his teeth, no longer laughing.

"Arghhhh!" He shouted loudly, pointing his finger forwards. "That's it! I'm done with this shit! You, your sister and everyone you know can go to hell at this point! I want each of their bodies in a casket in two seconds!"

Yet not a single one of his men stepped forwards in order to do the deed. He leered at his soldiers, before glaring specifically at one black-haired axefighter a couple feet to his right. 

"You!" he shouted, walking up to his face. "Why aren't you taking my orders? Did I not make myself clear?!"

"Sir…" the muscular man said. His shoulders slumped, lowering the axe he weakly held between his hands at his waist.

"What?! You're choosing now not to listen to me?" Gangrel asked, pointing up at his black-bearded chin.

The axeman lowered his head, hiding his eyes from him. "It's just that… The Ex—"

"Oh, don't tell me she got to you, did she?!" Gangrel snarled as he brought his fist to his chest. "Then get out of my sight! If you're not going to fight them then you're useless to me at this point!"

He yanked the axe from the soldier and slammed it onto the ground, where it bounced before sliding over to the feet of another guardsman.

"Now get the fuck out of here!" he shouted at the guard, pointing to the exit. The guard gave him a grim look of silence, before finally running out of the castle.

"Whatever!" Gangrel said as he opened the pages of his Mjolnir spellbook and stared back at Chrom. "If you can't trust someone else to actually do their jobs, then the only one you can trust is yourself!"

Chrom drew his longsword, standing his ground. "Damn you, Gangrel! You're going to pay for everything you've done today!"

Gangrel pulled a handful of string-like threads of lightning from his tome, yanking them upwards between the knuckles of his fist. "Put it on my tab! I'll pay it back when I meet you in hell!"

He nearly threw his spell when a brilliant beam of thunder shot from his left.

"Thoron!"

"What the—?!" 

Gangrel swung his fist at the beam coming at him. Lightning crackled as he pushed back against the yellow beam shining so brightly it blinded him in the eyes. Like a shield of blue sparks, his Mjolnir threads deflected the strike, sending the lightning bolt to the clouds above as he fell backwards from the force of the attack.

"Damn it, my eyes!" Gangrel rubbed them as he reached up to his knees. When he finally pulled his hand off his face, one glance at his attacker rushing over to Chrom was enough to send him into a rage.

"What on earth do you think you're doing Tharja!?" he shouted at her as she grabbed Chrom's arm and pulled him backwards.

"You have to get out of here now!" Tharja said as she started to run towards the collapsed wall.

"Wait!" Chrom said as he stumbled. He tried to reach down, swinging his arm to grab onto the Exalt only to miss her leg by a fraction of an inch.

"Her body! Phila's body—!"

"There's no time!" Tharja said, yanking him back on his feet. "If you and your friends don't want to find spears in your bodies, I suggest you help me help you get out of here!"

She crossed her arms as she swung them upwards, thunder tome in hand. A dense burst of lightning formed in both hands as she crossed one wrist over the other and brought both forwards, aiming at the piles of debris where the wall used to be. It blew apart into dust and stone fragments as both thunder beams assaulted it, clearing an opening for the Shepherds to escape.

"After them!" Gangrel shouted as he got off his knees. He turned to the hesitant bunch around him, drawing his sword as he pointed to their escape route. 

"Do you not understand what they've just done? If you value your livelihoods, you'll do as I say without questioning it! And this goes for everyone else here! If you got a problem, take it up with me and see what happens! Because I won't rest until I have the Prince's head at my feet!"

That was the ticket to get them going. Slowly but surely, these damn soldiers finally got off their asses and started chasing after them.

The Prince was going to pay for everything he's done.

* * *

_Bang-bang-bang._

"Plegian Guard! Open up!"

_Bang-bang-bang-bang… CRACK!_

Two Plegian guards managed to brute force the door open with their axes as the others quickly rushed in, fanning out to sweep the entire ground floor.

"Are you sure you saw them in here?" one of the guards asked.

"Check every room in this inn!" the highest ranking officer in the squad said. "We saw them go down this way!"

The officer ordered some of his allies to head towards the back, taking the others with him up the stairs. His squadmates checked every door behind him as he rushed to the back of the hallway, entering a large room with an empty table, bookshelves and other things. 

He went over to the table, searching the cabinets on the underside only to find them completely cleaned out. It was the same thing with nearly everything else in the room. Even the bookshelves contained only—perhaps expectedly—ordinary books, nothing else.

"Hey, could you not break down the door please?"

A man appeared from behind him, scratching his flax-colored beard before he leaned on the wall next to the door. "It isn't even mine, you know. Now I have to pay my guy to fix the door you broke. Thanks for that."

"Where are the prince and his allies?" the officer said. "We saw them head this way before they escaped our sight. This is the only building left that could hide them!"

"I don't know," the man said as he crossed his arms. "Even if they did enter this inn, you don't really think they could've easily escaped through here, do you? The only way in and out of this inn is through the front door, which you so eagerly smashed into pieces. Even if they did come in through here at one point, you should've found some evidence belonging to them."

"Sir! He's right!" one of the guards said as he came into the room. "We found nothing in the other rooms. They're completely empty."

"See? Told ya," the man said. "Now can you get out of here, or what?"

The officer huffed quietly, lowering his spear. He was prepared to call the rest of the guards back when suddenly another guard shouted from outside of the inn.

"We found something strange that we'd like you to check out, sir!" he called out. "It's downstairs!"

"Huh?" the officer said. He looked towards the window in the hallway, before turning to the man resting upon the wall.

"Hmm…" The officer narrowed his eyes. "Follow me."

The innkeeper reached into the brown satchel of his belt, pulling out a flask of alcohol and taking a swig from it. "If you say so," he said as he put the cap back on, rolling it closed before putting it back in his pocket.

He got off the wall as the two of them went back downstairs. A door in the back led them into a small yard, one with nothing besides a tall fence and a tiny shack at the very end.

"Looks like some kind of tool shed," said the guard at the shack's door checking down the shack. "There's a ladder leading down below."

"Where does it lead?" the officer said, stepping inside the shack. So far he saw nothing but a pair of shovels and some maintenance equipment, yet nothing else. 

Another guard climbed up the ladder and out of the shack, giving him the space to go down himself. Going down the latter, he lowered himself straight into some kind of small, dark room. The floor was worked stone, hard and not made to crack easily. With how small the room itself was, it looked like only one or perhaps two people could fit inside before the place would be cramped up.

Putting his hands on the walls, he ran his hand over them to quickly check for anything suspicious. Nothing out of the ordinary with the first, second or third. But the fourth…

After stepping forward and feeling how sharp, bumpy and rough the wall was, the officer rummaged through his equipment bag, pulling out a book in the darkness. He never so much as used a spell before in his life, but even someone as much of a beginner as him should have no trouble with it. According to the mages, at least. They said a book like this was made so that anyone could pick them up and fire them off. No experience needed.

He flipped through the pages and muttered to himself as the pages themselves began to glow. Two purple spheres surrounded by black trails floated into the air above the book, swirling around one another to form a vibrant ring of dark light.

He lifted his book as the small ring cast light over the room, letting him see the strange wall. And what he saw was rubble, meaning a collapsed wall. He could see the part of the wall which had given away, leading to the pile of rocks blocking his path.

"Hey! Get that innkeeper over here!" he called out. Soon enough, the man stepped down the ladder just like he ordered.

"What's behind this wall, mister?" the officer asked him.

"You're not gonna find anyone there," he answered. "It's just some more equipment of mine that got lost when the wall collapsed. I haven't had the chance to fix the damage yet. Now, can you get out of here? I know you're looking for people, but you're wasting your breath here."

The officer turned back to the collapsed wall, looking up and down it a second time. A collapsed wall like this would take up too much time to try to clear away on the chance that the man was lying. By the time they had all the necessary equipment ready, the Prince and his guard would be long gone out of Plegia. And even if they could catch up to them, that meant they'd have to fight all of them. 

The officer shook his head left to right, calling out to the guard standing outside. "I think we've ran out of leads here. Tell the king the trail went cold. Get him to send someone to search near the border."

He got out of the shed, taking the rest of his allies with him as they left the inn and apologizing to the man for damaging the door before he did. 

The man lazily waved his hand to the side. Walking back over to the shed, he looked down at the collapsed wall of rubble and bit his finger.

"You guys better make it out of here. The last thing I want to see is you all dying in vain."

* * *

It was a surprise to Cordelia that Reese's inn had a secret exit hidden in the shack in the backyard. Perhaps she should consider herself and the others lucky, because the narrow path took them straight out of the capital and into the Plegian underground caves. 

"How's the rest of our injured? And when is Basilio going to get here with backup?" Cordelia asked, lifting her head up for a moment so she could see everyone at her left.

"Libra and myself have kept everyone else stable," Maribelle said as she kneeled down beside her, helping to heal the injuries of an exhausted Lon'qu.

"Yeah, and I'm up too. And down for another round," Vaike said. He got up from his seat next to Maribelle, patting the bandage wraps around his stomach with his hand. Winding his arm twice, he hit his palm with his fist before finally stretching his back.

"Let's keep the others who got hurt out of the next fight if we can," he said, bringing his hand back down. "We can't let them get more hurt than they have to be."

"Basilio's supposed to be arriving in twenty minutes," Gaius said, flashing a glance at them. He turned his head back and kept staring out of the exit of the cave, looking out into the desert for any sign of the Khan. "So, we have a little while more to wait."

"Then let's keep using this time to rest," Cordelia said.

She lowered her head back down, channeling a healing spell as she placed her hand on the stomach of the wounded Skye in front of her, whose head was held by Reflet. Even with all the healing done to her, she was still in a dire state. She's been suffering ever since the bolt pierced through her stomach and her subsequent fall afterwards, drifting in and out of consciousness. And whenever she was conscious, she always gave Cordelia looks and grunts of agony.

"Reflet, get me one of the medicine vials from the backpacks. It's got a red and clear liquid in it," she said. "And Vaike, can you hold her head for me?"

"Of course," Vaike said. He got down, bringing Skye's head into his hands as Reflet got up and searched for the medicine vial.

"Cor… dhh..." Skye gave a pain-ridden groan as her eyes barely opened. "Cor… Cordelia?"

As worried sick for her as she was, seeing her like this brought Cordelia a twinge of relief. If only because of what the alternative meant. 

"Save your strength for now," she said to her. "We're doing our best to keep you alive."

"I…" Skye made a weak cough, some of the blood from her mouth dripping onto her white shirt. "I don't think I'm gonna make it."

Cordelia looked down at her with her own look of pain. "Don't say such things."

"No… If I die then I'll never get to say them." Skye grunted, propping herself up with her right elbow which suffered the least grievous of her injuries.

"Hey, hold on!" Vaike called out.

"I can't, sorry," Skye said, lifting her head further up. Cordelia winced, trying to get her to lay back down only for a hand to reach up and grab her by the wrist. It couldn't even push back against her, and yet it managed to stop her completely.

"Skye—"

"Please. Just let me look you in the eyes for this one."

Skye's hand dropped down as she lifted her head up. She was in no condition to be sitting up like this, and she looked like she was ready to pass out at any moment. But her mind was made up.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I thought it was fine when it really wasn't. You didn't deserve to be bullied the way I bullied you."

Cordelia's own hand lowered to the ground. "Skye…"

"I really—" Skye coughed, spitting up more blood. "I really am sorry. I should've said that before we went to fight for Emmeryn's sake. You deserved that, and you deserve only the best. Because you are the best out there, out of all of us. And I really, really mean it." 

She coughed again, covering her mouth with her sleeve before setting it back down. "You really are a genius. I was jealous of that. I was jealous of how skilled you were and that's the main reason I bullied you like I did. I'm sorry for putting you through all that, Cordie. You're a real genius, and all I want to say is that I'm sorry for putting you through hell."

Cordelia dropped her head and sniffled. Her jaw tightened as streams of tears flowed from her eyes.

"...Damn it," she quietly cried out.

"I'm sorry, Cordie. Just… get through this in one piece for me. For Phila, too, and for everyone else." Skye brought her thumb to her cheek, wiping her tears off her face before she fell back down into Vaike's arms.

Cordelia stifled her sob, shaking her head as she sniffled again. "You need your rest, Skye. Get back to sleep. I'll take care of things from here."

Skye nodded, closing her eyes once again as she slipped back into unconsciousness. Cordelia sniffled and sniffled as she sobbed again, wiping her face as more of her tears fell to the floor of the cavern.

Reflet returned with the vial in her hands and a look of sadness, opening the bottle and rubbing the medicine onto Skye's stomach for her. 

Twenty minutes passed since then, and Gaius called them over once he spotted Basilio's group. About twenty reinforcements ran down the desert road to reach them. Twenty soldiers was a small amount compared to what the Plegians had on them, and miniscule when put against the bulk of Ferox's actual army. But a reinforcement of that size would double the Shepherd's forces, which was vital after everyone exhausted themselves in the previous battle.

Cordelia wiped the last of her tears away, sniffling one last time as she got back up. She went to the front of their group and ran out of the cave. The others followed after her, carrying their wounded with them.

Flavia walked up to Basilio as his group met theirs, cracking a faint smile. "Well, it's pleasure to see you, ya old bastard. For once, at least."

Flashing a quick smile at her, that smile faded as he looked at every Shepherd in front of him. Tightening his fist, he then gave them a slow nod of his head as he turned his head to Cordelia.

"I think our first priority should be getting out of here," he said. "We'll have to talk once we reach Hail's Aegis. I made sure to bring a couple of medics and some soldiers to carry your wounded for us. I figured something like that might've been inevitable considering our line of work."

He looked down to his right and lightly patted Olivia beside him, who served as the scout between the Shepherds and his unit. "Olivia, keep an eye on them while we blaze our way out of here."

"Of course, Basilio," she said, calling for a handful of healers and soldiers to take Skye, Liz and everyone who was in no condition to fight into their care. 

"How much further do we have to run until we make it to safety?" Cordelia asked him.

"Not too long, lass," he answered. "But we got to cross the Midmire before we're safe. The carriages are just on the other side of it. Let's hurry before Gangrel's army can gain on us."

"You're right," Cordelia said. She turned back to the Shepherds, bringing her hand towards the long road ahead of us.

* * *

The Shepherds kept rushing through the boggy wasteland until they were ordered to take another break at Basilio's behest. And given what was in their sights, it was hard to not want to stop to stare in awe. Giant spikes of white stone creeped towards the rain clouds, running parallel from one another from where the Shepherds stood. They stood there, still in silence as water rained down onto the ends of the spikes curling away from them. Some ends were sharp and perfect, while others cracked and laid broken as shards upon the ground. The rain slid off the ends of the spikes, pooling together and falling to the earth as a small waterfall for every spike.

The spikes curled towards the thin, white hills sprouting from the ground behind them. They rose as tall as buildings, curving upwards before going back down towards the other side where more spikes awaited the Shepherds. The rain flowing down washed away the mud from the hills, making their white surfaces glisten even with the dark, clouded sky above them.

"What are these rocks?" Reflet asked, walking up to Basilio.

"That, little lass, is what remains of Grima," he said.

"And those aren't rocks, Reflet, they're bones," Cordelia added.

"Bones?"

Cordelia nodded, confirming her words. "The Midmire holds a good chunk of the rib cage that remained after the Evil Dragon's demise. It's stood there in the two-hundred years ever since his death."

"So this was Grima's body, or a piece of it…" Reflet looked back at the spikes and hills gathering together. If this mass of white spikes and white hills made up only some of its ribcage, then where was its head? Where was its tail?

Just how big was this dragon, really?

"You know," Cordelia said, moving strands of drenched hair out of her eyes, "as strange as it may seem to say this, I think this is a rather beautiful sight."

Reflet looked back at it again, tilting her head. "...Yeah. It is, isn't it?"

"With how the water is falling and the way the bones shine, it's kind of pretty," Cordelia said. "Maybe it'd be nice to come back here, if we ever get the chance to do so freely."

She was right. Even with the rain in her face and the mud everywhere, or perhaps because of it, gazing at the remains of Grima from afar instilled Reflet with a dark yet calm sense of feeling amidst the other feelings of awe and slight dread. Which isn't what she suspected at all to say the least.

"Safety is only a little further ahead, everyone," Basilio said. "We're almost home. Keep your spirits up."

Cordelia turned her head to the behind her, with Reflet mimicking her as both saw Chrom walk to their side before slowly passing by them. 

"Hey, Chrom," Cordelia said. She caught up to him, putting her hand on his left shoulder. Reflet hurried after them, lightly stepping through the mud before grabbing his right arm.

"Basilio said it's time to stop marching for now," Cordelia said as she gently pulled him back.

Reflet tugged his arm twice, nudging him as well. "Yeah, come on, Chrom. We gotta take a break." 

"...Huh," Chrom said. He looked down at Reflet, and then to Cordelia. "...Yeah." 

He breathed in, getting the arms of both girls off of him as he lifted his own over his head. Scratching the back of his hair, he dropped his hands back to his side, sighing.

The two girls looked at each other before Cordelia pulled on his shoulder again. "We're worried for you, Chrom. If you need someone to talk to, we're here."

Chrom shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. "I'm good for now," he said quietly, eyebrows tightly scrunched. Then they softened, with him letting out another sigh.

"Sorry you two. I'm sorry to everyone."

"It's okay." Cordelia pat him on the shoulder. "You didn't choose to have this happen. It was out of your control from the start."

"Yeah, don't say those things," Reflet added. "What happened back there wasn't your faul—"

"Look, let's just get out of here for now," Chrom said, cutting her off. "I don't want to talk about this while we still might be in danger."

He placed his palm upon his forehead as he turned his eyes to the ground, tapping his feet in the mud.

_Flap… Flap… Flap. Flap. Flap._

"Wait…" Chrom lifted his head back up, listening in on the heavy wings pushing wind around. Several red dragons soared towards them from the rainy sky, quickly closing a gap in mere moments which would've taken the Shepherds minutes to cross. The dragons rushed past them, turning around before breaking in the air as they looked down at the Shepherds.

"Gods, damn them…" Chrom reached for his sheath and pulled out the Queensfang, flipping it around and gripping the white-gold blade with both hands. "Damn it!"

"Oh, bite my big brown arse!" Basilio shouted, looking up. "Wyvern Riders are here for our asses! Thought we'd have more time before they could get to us!"

He slung his greataxe over his back and ran towards the three of them, ordering the others to keep up with them and not get caught out. The leader of the Wyvern Knights descended onto the Midmire, dropping off the back of his wyvern. His knights followed suit, with some dropping behind him while the dragons of the others perched atop the white spikes of Grima. 

"Chrom Lowell, I'd be lying if I said I was happy to meet you as I do right now." The burly, bearded warrior from before stepped forward and bowed to him, then stared at Cordelia and Reflet before looking at the others behind them.

"Let me guess, that bastard called Gangrel sent you to kill us, is that it?" Chrom said. "We'll take you on with everything we've got before we let you take our lives from us!"

"At ease, I do not wish to fight," the warrior said. "My name is Mustafa, Wyvern General of the Plegian Army. Though we are enemies, I do not wish to claim lives today. I ask that you surrender peacefully. Should you do so, I promise that you all will live to see another day. For more blood be to be shed between your people and mine, that would be something your sister Emmeryn would not have wished—"

"Don't speak her name!" Chrom shouted at him. Stepping forwards and splashing the water at his feet, he raised his sword higher. "None of you should after what you've brought onto us today! How dare you claim to know what she wanted after taking her life?"

"Your rage is justified, Prince Chrom," Mustafa said, closing his eyes. "But the meaning of your sister's sacrifice was not lost on me. I suspect that many Plegians who heard her final words would say the same."

Frederick stepped forward, pointing his lance at Mustafa. "Neither I nor our leader could trust that king of yours after everything he's done. Even if we believe that your words are genuine, what's to stop that king from murdering the rest of us like he so happily wishes?"

"I do not wish for it to come to that," Mustafa said as he crossed his arms. "As his general of the finest men I've seen in our army, if you lay down your weapons, I vow to protect you as best I can. I will do everything in my power to prevent the king from slipping down a dark road with no light at its end. But in order for me to be able to do that, you must come with me and return to Plegia."

"I'm sorry, but there's no going back at this point." Shaking her head, Cordelia drew her rapier and stepped up next to Chrom and Frederick, keeping it at rest in her hands. "If we go back there now, our deaths are certain. I'm not going to let everyone die on my watch."

"We're better off taking our chances with our weapons in our hands," Frederick said.

"And if you're gonna stop us then you're gonna have to do a lot more than talking!" Chrom shouted. "We're not surrendering here!"

"So be it." Mustafa turned around, getting back on his wyvern before it flapped into the air.

"I suspected you would say as much, Prince Chrom!" he said. "If we must fight, then I will endeavor to grant you a swift and dignified end!"

The Wyvern Knights took off towards Grima's remains, racing ahead to cut off their escape.

"Looks like there's no getting out of this without a fight!" Basilio said. "It won't be long now before our blades clash!"

"Let's just hope everyone can make it through this," Flavia said. "I'm sick of fighting already."

"Reflet!" Basilio said as he walked up to her. "What's cooking in that head of yours?"

"Err, me? What?" Reflet said.

"You know you've got something to say that will aid us in this battle. We just gotta prod at you until we find out what it is."

Basilio poked her in the rib to prove a point, making her squeak.

"Myaa!' Reflet tensed up, arching her back as she brought her hands to her chest. "Basilio!"

"Ahahah!" Basilio laughed. "It works just like it does with Olivia!"

She pouted at him, bringing her hands to her sides as she grumbled. Then she sighed, relaxing her body as she put a hand on her wet, white hair.

"Well if that's what you meant, then I should say that I wasn't able to see what happened during the first battle," she said. "But the second time, the Wyvern Knights dropped down and circled around us, trapping us in a ring while a second group dropped off their backs and rushed at us at the same time. We cornered and pressured, and we were being attacked from all sides, so it was hard for any of us to fight especially when we had to worry about the cliff at our sides. And then there's the fact that the Wyverns themselves are like another enemy we have to fight."

"So then if they're pinning us down on all sides, then the solution is to split ourselves up before they can get to us to deny them the chance," Flavia said.

"Yes, exactly that!" Reflet said. "They don't have enough Wyverns to pin us down if we split into groups! And like with Pegasi, bows and magic can shoot them out of the air!"

She curled her finger upon her lip, muttering out her words, "What if we split into a large group and a small group? Then the large group can fight the main force and force them to advance towards them. While the smaller force takes a detour that is further away from where the main enemy force is. And if we could build each group around our enemy's groups, we'll have a better chance at driving them off."

"Pardon me, I believe I have something to add," said Wayne as he walked up to them. "If it wasn't made clear before, then I must mention that wyverns are particularly vulnerable to magic. Their scales don't do anything to shield them compared to what they do for physical attacks, and they aren't as resistant to it as their non-feral dragon siblings. Secondly, while their scales are tough, one may find that puncture wounds to their underside are the quickest way to send them running."

"Okay! Then let's use all that to make our groups!" Reflet said. 

"And furthermore," Wayne continued, pointing at the sword in Chrom's hands. "I believe that sword belonging to the Prince is specifically designed to take down all sorts of dragons. There are quite a few heroic weapons created with such purpose, though I don't believe we're carrying any of them on us besides the one blade."

"Huh, you sure seem to have an oddly large amount of knowledge about wyverns," Basilio said.

The fancy archer scoffed, raising a hand up. "Well, when you spend most of your days with someone who owns one, you start to pick up the little things about the little adorable critters."

"So long as it gets us through the battle, I have no complaints," Basilio said. "Listen up everyone! We're about to split off into groups to break past those dragons! Get into positions and get ready to fight!"

"Whatever it takes," Chrom said, staring at Reflet and Basilio with a fierce look in his eyes. "If they've come to take us down then they've made a mistake."

* * *

"So that's that then? We're just gonna fight them like this, done deal?" Vasto said to him as they flew over to the northern end of the Midmire.

"Of course," Mustafa said, turning his head right to face his first lieutenant. "Such anger can't be swayed so easily, but I felt I should have tried to change their minds either way. Our chance for peace is gone, now we must do as soldiers do and perform our role as Plegia's Wings."

"I get what you're saying," he responded. "I doubt I could convince that guy after seeing him in action, twice even. He's got a lot of fury in a battle, and even more strength to boot."

"I suppose that is to be expected when one is a Child of Naga," he replied. "The heroes before him have always had the stories of their feats told one way or another. Yet one's birthright can only take a person so far, I've seen as such in my lifetime."

"Yeah, with that old hellhole of a war. It's been a decade or more since." Vasto turned his head down, staring at the wasteland below them. "You were in it, right?"

Mustafa nodded his head. "But it would not be fair to the Prince to say that his strength comes from his bloods. I caught a glimpse of his battle against King Gangrel and those two young men he had with him. His strength and skill are his own."

"Sounds like that's just gonna make more problems for us, then," Vasto said as he lifted his head. He idly whipped the reins of his wyvern, making it go faster.

"Bloods, bloods. Thunder blood, giant axe blood, dragon blood and sword blood. Does it really all matter? Blood is blood in the end." 

Henry peaked out from behind the other lieutenant, grabbing Vasto's shoulders as he lifted his head up. 

"You know, it's all red and sticky and weird. And it gets on your fingers easily and you have to wash it off all the time. But what's the difference between the blood that's in one person and the blood that's in another? Isn't it the same kind in the end?"

"You're making blood sound real weird right now," Vasto said as he turned his eyes to the younger mage. "Also, let up on my shoulders. You're chafing me." 

"In some ways you're right, Henry." Mustafa's lips curled as he snorted. "There are some out there who believe the Blood of the Dragons has its limits, even those within Plegia. And having seen quite a few bearers of that blood fall in battle, I've often wondered whether that is true. There were even times where I—being a man of no lineage of importance—faced off against those bearers and came out the victor."

Mustafa looked back down at the earth. "And so I must wonder what truly decides their strength. Is it their weapons? Or perhaps it is their will that carries them forward? Maybe the blood is merely a symbol for the people. Our own king is something of a rarity, born with the bloods of the house of the Weissritters and the royal lineage itself. But he would not have been a king were he not the man he was since the day we first met. And I'm not sure what would've happened to him had our allies not intervened today."

"So which one is it?" Vasto asked. "Does Holy Blood really do something? Or does it just give them weapons, or what?"

"Yeah, tell us Muspapa!" Henry said.

"I'm not sure myself," he answered. "It is something I still seek the answer to."

Mustafa looked towards his west, squinting his eyes as a group of seven in brown coats with their hoods over their heads ran towards the battleground. 

"Hmm…" He muttered to himself as he saw the daggers and swords in their hands and the sacks slung over their backs. What an odd direction to join the battle from. The Prince's escape path was to the north. So too was the number of reinforcements odd, and the equipment they carried on them. 

No, it was clear they were no reinforcements of any kind.

"Looks like a couple of thieves have spotted us," he said. "Before the fight begins, take some riders with you Vasto, and neutralize them when they get in range. They're a small group, likely seeking to profit off our corpses and those of the Prince's squad. But for now, it's time to prepare our movements."

"You've got it, sir," he answered.

Their wyverns flapped down to the ground and landed, stretching their wings as they waited for the upcoming battle. Again, Mustafa got down off of his wyvern's back and onto the mud, turning back to his siblings-in-arms. He put both hands on the furs at his sides, standing tall as a leader should to keep the morale of his comrades from waning.

"The time for talk has reached its end," he said. "Now it is time we all fight. Whatever troubles ail you, wipe them from your minds. Now is not the time to think about who our opponents are or what their motives are. Because thoughts like those are ones that may make us falter. And if we falter then our lives will falter. I do not wish to see any of you die today, so fight as if today is to be your last. The soldier does not judge. The soldier delivers judgement." 

There was a brief moment of silence once he finished, with the only companion to his words being the sound of rain splashing onto the ground.

Then one of his comrades got down from his seat behind the rider of the wyvern they rode. A lancer. Not one of his own, but from one of the two smaller squads that King Gangrel ordered him to take with.

"Umm, forgive me sir," he said as he walked up to him, his brows furrowed and his lance at rest. "I understand what you're saying, but I… I no longer see any justice in hunting these people down. I accept any punishment you deem fit, but after all that's happened… I just can't."

"So then what are you going to do?" Vasto asked him. "Are you just going to let them get past us? The king was pretty pissed earlier, what's he gonna do if he hears that?" 

"Well, I don't know, but these people are…" The lancer turned his head away, struggling with his words before quieting himself in shame.

Mustafa looked at what little white of the lancer's eyes he could still see. "You were there when Emmeryn spoke, weren't you?"

His ally lifted his head up and looked at him with his gold-colored eyes, nodding his head with a defeated look on his face.

"So be it! Those of you unwilling to fight are dismissed!" Mustafa ordered. Drawing his short axe from his belt, he turned back towards the battlefield and readied himself to rush in at a moment's notice.

"But sir, what about you?" the lancer asked. "If we leave but you stay, then you'll be down many men and you'll be outnumbered against them. You'll die with those odds. Please, retreat with us instead. I don't wish for you to die, either."

"I cannot defy the king, lad. I know him well," Mustafa said, shooing them off with a hand. "I will accept the blame for your actions today. Now go!"

Many other soldiers got off their wyverns, joining the lancer as they all prepared to leave.

"You might know him well, but what about tomorrow?"

Vasto jumped off his wyvern and went over to Mustafa's side. "Mustafa, you can't act like what we saw today was nothing unusual. Sure, the King's been angry before, sure, but I've never seen him get so viciously hateful until today."

"No, I won't deny it," Mustafa said. "The King has hated the Ylissean royalty ever since what the last one did to our country. And I can see that the Prince looks like a reflection of his father's younger self. Perhaps that may be one of the sources for his hatred for him."

"Yeah," Vasto said, crossing his arms as he brought his handaxe to his shoulder. "Plus, I'm starting to doubt whether we should keep listening to him. I mean, I'm down for having a nice house for my parents and also whatever kids I'll have, plus a fat stack of money. But what I mean is that I don't see how keeping this fight going is gonna help us. First we were defending ourselves, but after what the Exalt did, what's his goal at this point?"

"Hmm," Mustafa hummed out. "King Gangrel has always kept his intentions hidden when given the chance. True, he may jest and dangle the potential existence of a greater plan over friend and foe alike. But for both the good and the bad, when it comes down to it he'll never speak of his greater plans outside of a need to know basis. Even with me when he served under me years ago, as difficult as it made things at times. The man would hate nothing more than for a spy or traitor in his ranks to ruin his plans and take the lives of his allies or his own. So I suspect the only ones who might know his ulterior motives are himself and perhaps Lady Aversa."

"So then you just follow him blindly? Is that what you're telling me, Commander?"

"I would not call it blind, although perhaps that is exactly what it might be. But I have no reason not to follow his word. Gangrel has never once wronged me nor our country, even before his ascension after the old king's death. It is the trust in our bond that gives me the will to believe in him, and that belief in him is what carried me through many days and many battles to bring peace and prosperity back to our ruined country."

"Although perhaps my faith may be misplaced by partaking in this battle," he said. Mustafa lifted his hand, staring at the old, sharp axe he held near his chest. Then he tightened his grip, using it to swiftly cut the wind before cutting it twice. 

"But, I will not turn back on my friend and liege just yet. I cannot. I mustn't. But once I return to the capital, I'll ask him of his intentions."

"So then I ask you, Lieutenant," he asked as he made one last swing. "Do you plan on leaving like the others? Will you be leaving me today as well?"

Vasto looked up, then snorted. "Nah, that's bullshit. I've followed your orders since I joined this thing, I'm not backing out now. And someone's gotta be there to back you up. Else you'll lose that scruffy beard of yours."

"Heh, maybe what I'm doing right now is the same as what you do for Gangrel." Vasto raised his hand-axe and swung it downwards, then thrusted forwards like it was a sword. "So come on, I got your back. How about the two of us go out there and dunk on them?"

"Is that what young people call it these days?" Mustafa said as he smiled. "Get back on your mount, it's about time we fought."

"Ooh! Me too!" Henry said, waving his hand from his seat. He got down off Vasto's wyvern, scurrying over to their side. "Everything you both said makes sense, I think! And if both of you fight then what's gonna happen if you croak on me like frogs? Oh, the anxiety would toadally kill me! Nyeh-eh! That's why I say we should stop them before they kill every last one of us!" 

"You both are good lads," Mustafa said. "I hope to see you both outside of this battle tonight."

He looked back at the group that intended on leaving. "Well? Are you not going to leave? Get going! The battle will not wait for you!"

Yet none in the group did so, despite having every chance and right to. The lancer from before even walked up to him again, tapping his fingers together.

"Sorry, sir. General," he said. "Hearing you speak gave me things to reconsider. I still don't want to fight these people, they don't deserve it. But I also don't want to see you dead, still. And I see a new cause to fight worth fighting for now, one I believe in. Loyalty to my General!" 

"So if you wouldn't mind, sir, I'd like to fight with you no matter the odds!" the lancer said as he bowed his head.

The others behind him nodded their heads and walked towards the four of them, all willing to put their lives on the line.

"Is that so? Then I'll not stop you. You all have good hearts." Mustafa smiled at his comrades. "Very well! I will lead most of our infantry alongside our fliers to take the prince head on! Vasto shall lead the rest to intercept both the thieves and the Prince's smaller force! These are my orders!"

"Understood!" his siblings-in-arms shouted.

"Okie-dokie!" Henry said. "Nyaa-hah! This is going to be fun! I can't wait to blast them from the sky!"

"Actually, Henry," Mustafa said. "I would ask that you fight from the ground for this one. It will take some time for Vasto to clear out those thieves, thus we'll need someone to fight the secondary group until he comes to assist you."

"Fight them off alone? Are you sure about that?" Henry pushed the bottom of his lip up with his index finger. "Well, I suppose I could, but do you really think I'll be able to do anything on my own?"

"You're a talented mage and your mind is sharp. I've seen both to be true. You shouldn't have any trouble fending them off until he arrives. But don't sacrifice yourself for this battle. If for any reason you feel you must pull back, simply call our troops back and run."

"But what about you, then?" Vasto said, stretching out his arm. "If you're not taking me or Henry with you, you'll be fighting Chrom at a disadvantage. Are you sure about that?"

"One hundred-percent," Mustafa said, nodding his head. "I may be disadvantaged, but I have no plans to die this day. But not only that, I wish to see what kind of person he truly is with my own two eyes."

Mustafa raised his axe forwards, staring at the red streak running down the middle where he saw the scar over his eye reflected in the metal. 

"This is not merely a battle for me," he said. "It is also a test for him."

"A test?" Vasto asked. 

"Yes," Mustafa said, swinging his axe again. "The Prince has a long journey ahead of him, one that none of us knows how it shall play out. If he is truly like the person Gangrel claims he is, I'll cut him down and end this here. And if he is not like that man, then I must see to it that he has the strength to do what is needed."

It was a test for himself, too. He wanted to see how he could hold up in a true fight against a Child of Naga.

Mustafa walked forward, stepping through the rain and towards the spines of the Evil Dragon to face his foe.


	25. Will ~ Rage

Reflet hurried forwards with the other members of her small group through the spines of Grima furthest away from Chrom and the skirmish between their main forces. Although they avoided the bulk of their opponents, that didn't mean their fight would be any easier. A duo of Wyvern Riders attacked them, accompanied by more soldiers charging their way.

"It'd be a hell of a lot easier if—!"

Sully shut herself up as she bent backwards, ducking under the heavy sweep of the tail of a wyvern. "If I had my horse right now!" she grunted out as she swung her halberd and slashed it across the underbelly of the winged beast. The wyvern howled, retaliating with its claws and wings to slash at her chest. Twisting her body to dodge, the slash narrowly missed her, giving her a clean opening for another attack.

Sully shouted as she stepped forward and sweeped her blade with a great shout. She slashed up the side of the beast's maroon stomach, even grazing a piece of its right wing as she stepped out of the way. The rider panicked and struck back, stabbing down at the red cavalier as his wyvern began flapping its wings. The wyvern took to the air as Sully dodged the rider's lance, who then watched both rider and wyvern escape.

"Damn wyverns," she said, readying her halberd again. She assisted Donny and Reflet in taking out the second wyvern, sending the rider packing after Donny slashed them in the arm with a magic spell of wind.

"Keep going!" Basilio shouted as he ran ahead of them. "We'll break through the next group, and then we'll reach Chrom and attack them from both sides!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Sully said. She pulled Donny and Reflet ahead, calling for Libra to keep up the pace.

While things weren't easy for Reflet and the others, they weren't at their worst just yet. Yet she had only a faint idea as to how Chrom's group fared. She had no way to tell besides the blades clashing. The thunder, wind and fire crashing and the people shouting. Looking up only made her grow more fearful as wyverns swooped in and out of the fight, taking hits as they flew on by as they avoided the arrows and magic spells flying at them.

Everything was so loud. She wanted to cover her ears if not for the danger around them. She didn't want any of this. She just wanted to go home and—

"Aye! They're coming at us!" Basilio said. "Get ready for it!"

Focus, Reflet. Reflet took a deep breath as she set her sights at one of the soldiers from the group coming their way. A lancer in red clothing and a metal helmet. His eyes carried a look of softness, before they hardened and his expression turned fierce. 

She didn't have her dagger with her, but she needed to do without. She lifted her hand to her chest, stepping forwards as the man lunged with a battle cry. With a step to the side she brought her hand to his face and blinded him with a flash of light, reaching back before throwing forwards a blast of wind. It slashed him in the chest and sent him backwards into the mud, leaving him with a nasty cut as he laid on the ground.

"...No! Not yet!" the lancer said. He struggled as he got back up, pushing himself back on his knees with his spear as he shakily raised it up. He wiped his eyes, getting back on his feet so quickly he left Reflet surprised.

"For the General! You will not take his life no matter what!" The lancer narrowed his eyes and lunged off the ground, driving his lance forwards while leaving Reflet little chance to react. She managed to jump away from the rush, only to find the spearman pulling back his attack before he could truly start it. He snapped to the left, shouting louder than before as he lunged where she dodged.

"Out of my way!" Libra shouted as he shoved Reflet to the side. She heard someone get struck as she hit the ground, mud smacking her face and torn clothes. She picked her head up, wiping her face as cleanly as she could to see a spear stabbing the chest of the blonde, long-haired man. Her eyes widened in horror, but that was before she even saw the state the lancer was in. A scythe with a black shaft and red wraps around it struck him from underneath his spear. Its gold-colored blade pierced straight through the shoulder of the arm he carried his lance with.

"Libra!" Reflet shouted.

The lancer cried out as Libra pulled his scythe out of him, who pulled the spear out of himself as he pointed his scythe at the lancer's neck. 

"Stand down!" Libra said.

The lancer staggered backwards, holding back grunts of pain as he covered his shoulder. "Never!" he shouted. He took the spear into his left hand, readying it to strike at Libra. "For my General, I'll fight to my last breath!"

"Then I'm afraid this will be your last breath!" Libra jumped back and spun his scythe around, lunging forwards to finish the lancer off. Yet a sudden wave of ice rose from the ground to stop his attack, knocking his scythe out of the way. The sudden push took the scythe out of his hands, dropping it blade first at his feet.

"Woah!" Henry said, his hand cloaked in vapors of ice. "Hey, mister! If you wanna keep the blood in you, you should really start running back to Mustafa."

The lancer stepped backwards, his grip slipping as he looked at Henry. "But, sir. They—"

"Look, we all gotta die sometime, but you're going to die at the wrong time if you keep fighting!" He snickered, flicking his finger up. "Besides, how can you fight when you have a hole in your arm?"

The lancer cringing his teeth, unable to stop himself from groaning.

"Oh, is the pain kicking in?" Henry said. "Yeah, that tends to be painful. Now get out of here before you're a dead guy!"

The lancer nodded his head, heaving heavy breaths as he ran off.

Libra picked up his scythe with his wounded arm, clutching his injury as he looked at the Plegians who still stood after being defeated by himself and the others.

"Get out of here or we'll have to kill you all," Libra said.

The wounded soldiers heeded the advice of both the priest and the mage, following the actions of the lancer and escaping out of there.

Libra looked down as he tightened his grip on his wound. Before he even uttered a word, his body bathed in white light as his hair fluttered up in a light breeze.

"Renewal!" he chanted in a soft yet serious, almost mystical tone. The light around him turned gray near the bottom as it pulsed upwards intensely, then faded all at once. His wound sealed as his arm restored itself to perfect condition, as if he was never injured at all.

"Woah…" Reflet said.

Libra spun his scythe slowly and clockwise, glaring at the ice mage who's eyes hid behind his lids.

"Just who are you?" he asked him.

"Me? Name's Henry," the mage said back. "I'm just an ordinary guy, just like you."

"No, I think not," Libra said. "There's something about you, I can sense it. And I've heard one such story involving a mysterious boy with fierce ice magic and white hair. You fit the description quite well."

"Am I realllly that boy?" Henry drawled out, wiggling to the left as he craned his neck. "What if it was an entirely different guy with white hair? There are a couple of them in this world."

Libra slowed the turn of his scythe after each rotation, squinting his eyes. "You're hiding something. I can see it in your eyes. You're not the ordinary mage you claim to be."

"Gee, you seem dead set on insisting that. But how would you know that, though? Is it a case of taking-one-to-know-one, Mr. Humble Priest?" 

Henry flicked his finger up and laughed as Libra's eyes hardened. "Nyahahah! But that would be strange though!"

"Well either way, don't think a boy like you has a chance against us, especially when you're outnumbered," Basilio said. "There's more to you than meets the eye, but I'll say the exact same thing about myself. And that isn't bluster or arrogance. The years you spent living are less than the years I spent fighting. We may be enemies, but it'd be best we all avoid this fight."

"Sorry, no can do!" Henry wagged a finger before putting the nail to his chin. "If I back out now, then you all are gonna kill Mustafa from the rear. So I can't do that."

"Alright, then I guess we'll just have to make you back off," Sully said.

"Yeah!" Donny added. He adjusted the pot on his head he took with him out of Plegia, nodding at Henry. "Listen, I'll be honest with you. The last thing I wanna do is fight anybody right now, and especially not kill them. But we need to escape. And if ya ain't gonna let us through then we'll have to brute force our way."

"Suit yourself." Henry stepped back, stretching both hands over his head.

"Get ready for this everyone! I'll lead the assault!" Basilio ordered. "Don't underestimate your opponent! We don't know what tricks he'll pull!"

Basilio readied his axe in both hands and charged when Henry laughed aloud. A shard of ice the size of a dagger formed from the rain above his palm. It shot towards the Khan who dodged it with only the tiniest adjustments to his sprint, slipping past both it and two more shards following behind it. Basilio jumped at the mage and raised his weapon, slamming it into the mud when Henry rolled out of the way just in time.

"You might wanna reconsider fighting now, you've still got the chance!" Basilio heaved his axe off the ground with one hand, bringing the blade up to his neck.

Henry stumbled as he picked himself up, running back towards the other end of the battlefield as two ice shards formed in his hands.

"Heh-hey, I already told you no! Didn't you get that?" Three more shards appeared behind him, then five more shards formed from thin air as Henry turned around and stretched out his hand. They flew ahead like a volley of arrows, shattering upon Basilio's axe as he raised it to defend himself. Yet some of the ice shards flew by him instead of striking him, aimed at Sully and Libra. While Sully managed to dodge the attack, Libra took a spike to the chest, only to shrug it off and throw it on the ground as he closed his wounds again. The pair joined up with Basilio as they rushed Henry down, yet the ice mage chuckled again, bringing his frost-cloaked hand over to his face.

"Blizzard!" Henry said. He slung said hand towards the ground as spikes of ice sprawled out in front of him. They crawled along the ground as more rows of spikes shot out from the mud, forcing the trio to cut their attack short or risk being stabbed by a foot-high thicket of spears. 

"Come on, Reflet! Let's help them finish this!" Donny brought his hands in front of him and swiped them away from one another, making the air swish and ripple around him as it took on the signature green of wind spells. Reflet aided him in the attack, firing off a string of her own wind blasts only for both attacks to disperse when a large, crystal pillar rose from the mud and bounced the attacks off like they were nothing.

"Ice Pillars!" Henry said as lifted his finger into the air, flicking his hand thrice more. On command, there was the sound of ice crackling in their ears as a frosted-blue pillar rose forth, and then another and another again. The field they fought on was completely dominated by Henry's spells, a spikefield on his left and a shield on his right.

"How about a little dark magic, then?" Henry said. The frost around his hand vanished as a black smoke took its place in both his hands. He raised them upwards, the smoke flickering from black to gray as it grew three sizes.

"Haze!" he shouted. The black smoke rushed past them as it expanded across the field, bringing everyone into its thick fog. Now none of them could see a single thing in the smoke. Not each other. Not even what little light reflected off the spikes before smoke came.

More crackles came from ahead of Reflet when an ice shard raced forwards, nearly cutting her arm as she reflexively dodged to the side.

"Oh crap!" Donny said, ducking just as an ice shard scraped the top of the pot on his head and knocked it clean off. 

"Woah, lucky me! But we gotta get out of here, quick!" he said, reaching backwards and grabbing the pot before taking Reflet's hand and leading her towards the left.

"Where are the others?" Reflet said, trying to keep up with him. Donny squinted his eyes, scanning the area as he put the pot back on his head.

"Over there! I think I can sense 'em!" Donny pointed to their right and rushed with her over to that direction. As they grew closer to their allies, the shadows of Sully, Libra and Basilio appeared in the haze. 

"Stay close to one another and don't get separated!" Basilio shouted as he came into full view, taking a step back. "Sully, Libra! Watch my back so we can see where he comes from!"

The three of them grouped closer together and turned their backs away from one another, forming a triangle that allowed them to cover every angle.

"There! I see it! It's heading towards you, Sully!" Libra shouted, catching a glimpse at the ice shard coming in from his left. Yet Sully failed to completely dodge the attack, getting struck in the back of her shoulder.

"Ghh—! Damn it all!" Sully winced, looking at the two men behind her. "Moving might get us killed quicker, but we can't just stand here! We'll keep getting shot and we'll die before we know it!"

"But in this darkness, we won't be able to see where he's putting down new spikes!" Basilio said. "We need ourselves an opening!"

"Yeahah! If you can't see me then how are you gonna knock my lights out?" Henry said, his laugh coming from Basilio's left.

"Right there!" Donny stepped in front of Basilio and sent forth a wind blade to where Henry's laugh came from. An ice shard sped towards it in retaliation, fighting against the green gale of wind to break through it. Henry's ice won the clash and ripped through his wind, but the force from Donny's attack shifted its trajectory and sent arcing upwards into the air. Any momentum left in the attack was swiftly killed, making it spin out and shatter upon the ground before it could even get close to him.

Donny readied another wind spell and waited for Henry to make his next strike. "I'll buy us time, but someone's gotta think of a way to get rid of this darkness!"

"If only we actually had some way to light this damn field up!" Sully said. "Then we'd be able to take him down right now!"

"Light?" Reflet repeated. She looked at Sully before looking down at her hands. If what they needed was a way to see, then maybe she had just the right trick in store. She brought her hands forward, channeling forth a white flash of light that shimmered within the dark fog for no more than a second. But that one second was enough to reveal the many ice traps and pillars surrounding them. There were far more now than there were before the smoke cloaked the field, so they were very lucky to have grouped up when they did. Still, no one caught sight of Henry during the quick flash. He either hid somewhere or was moving around, moments away from another attack. 

"Hey! That'll work!" Sully said. "Think you can do that again, little runt? We need exactly that but for much longer! And bigger, too!"

"Okay! I'll try!" Reflet said. She put both hands in front of her, and her palms shone bright just like before. But getting it to stay for longer proved to be a struggle. As the light grew brighter, it started flickering in and out of existence, which would be of no help to any of them. And even worse than that, just trying to keep it up quickly put a mental strain on her.

"...Come on!" she groaned out, trying to increase the spell's power.

Donny turned his eyes towards her, still searching the fog for Henry at the same time. "Hey, that's light magic, right?"

"Yeah!" she answered, keeping her eyes on her flickering light.

"Good, then listen to what I'm about to say!" Donny looked to his right, nodding his head before he continued to wait for Henry to make his move.

"Okay! You need to focus all your energy into your move for this!" he said.

"I'm… trying!" she grunted out, her eyebrows pressing together. "But I don't know how to make it stronger!"

A shard came at them once more, this time aimed at Reflet's back. Donny growled through his teeth as he rushed to her side and fired a spell back at it, bouncing the icicle into the air like before.

"Argh!" Donny rasped, turning his head back to her. "Reflet, you're the one who has to do this! Put your will and soul into this move! Give it everything you got!"

"But I don't know how!" Reflet said. "How do you know this?"

"Now's not the time for this question, Reflet!" Donny said, throwing his hand away from her. "Focus!"

"He's right, lass!" Basilio said. "We can't make a move until you do!"

The fog at their left gained a blue tint as a sudden, mass of crackling ice hit their ears. A torrent of icicles rained forth from the mist, coming down on all of them. With each one fired, a new shard formed to follow behind it, until tens of dozens of spikes spiraled towards them one after another.

"Ah crap!" Donny stepped into the way of the whirling vortex of ice and brought both hands forwards. The air around him blew fiercely as he shouted into the wind. 

"Tornado!" The air in front of his palms whirled around in a spiral of its own as it came to life, surging forwards and encircling each and every one of the spikes coming his way. The number of spikes increased as they pushed through the tornado, only for the tornado to blast each one backwards and send them fanning outwards in a spiralling rain. But the onslaught of icicles didn't stop even as they were being pushed back. More and more just kept coming at him, and slowly they started to creep down the tornado en masse.

Donny dug his feet into the mud, shifting one foot backwards. Clenching his teeth, he turned his head back to Reflet one more time.

"Reflet! Do it now!" he shouted. He faced the ice storm once more, thrusting his hands forward. The wind rippling around him lit up, blowing everything around Donny with such power it forced Reflet to stand her ground as to not be pushed back. His hair basked in the green light of the tornado roaring from his hands, shoving back the ice barrage that shot off into the air and shattered all around them.

Yet a second wave of icicles shot towards him from his left as he bounced away the first. They hurled from outside the windstorm, for an attack in which Donny had no chance to defend against on his own. To focus on one attack would leave him wide open, and to split his attention would surely result in both breaking through and ending his life.

"Help me out here!" he called out.

The wind at his side roared, swirling around and shining like his own as a second tornado rolled forth. It took the second ice barrage head on as it crossed through Donny's first tornado, forming an X that sent the second barrage crashing into the first and shattering both into nothing but crystal dust.

"Come on, Reflet! You need to do this, or we're all going to die!"

Reflet could feel the vibrations in her hands as she grasped the air. "Please work, please work" was her only thought as she focused all her effort into getting the light in her palms to shine even more. She didn't even know how to pour her soul into her magic, but she was desperate to do anything at this point.

That's why she scrambled to dig through the tattered skirt wrapped around her pants, taking out the metal ring Emmeryn gave to her. Lifting it up even as her hands glowed, she grabbed both sides and put everything she had into getting it to light up. The light began to flow from her palms into her ring, making it shine bright like a white sun. Everything concealed by the shadowy fog was now revealed by the ring of light. All the spikes around them, and the ice pillars raised to defend them, too.

And the boy who stood behind the field of spikes and shield walls, struggling to overpower Donny to spear them all.

"I got this!" Basilio shouted. "Everyone follow after me!"

He stepped ahead of them and lifted his axe up high, swinging it around and around above his head. 

"Now you'll learn why I was once feared as the King of the Sea of Earth! Get a taste of the Earthbreaker!"

He brought his greataxe downwards, slamming the earth-colored spikes into the ground as he gave a great shout. "Mudwave!"

The mud at his feet ruptured, sinking down into the earth before snapping back up and rushing forwards like the wave in its name. Every spike in front of them shattered as the wave ripped past them. It took Henry's footing from him as it rolled under his feet, nearly making him fall while finally breaking his constant ice barrage.

"Go! Get him now!" Basilio ordered, and immediately Sully and Libra rushed Henry down. Regaining his footing, Henry brought his foot forward as he threw an ice pillar to defend himself. Sully readied her halberd as she ran across the mud, flipping it around so the spike at its end pointed ahead of her. With all her might she lifted the axe and slammed the spike into the pillar, smashing it apart as Libra jumped over what little remained and kept going forth. The priest raised the scythe in his hand and prepared to strike, taking a stab to the chest from Henry's last icicle as he reaped his own blade into the mage's chest.

Henry looked down at the sharp blade sticking through him. "Huh. There's a scythe in my chest. Oww."

The blade ripped out of him as he stumbled back into the mud. The fog around them vanished as he chuckled at all of them, placing one hand on the ground and covering the hole in his chest with the other.

"Now my blood's leaving me. That wasn't supposed to happen. Yet." Henry quietly laughed again, getting back up surprisingly quick. 

"Heh… Good job everyone," Donny said weakly as he fell to his knees. With hardly any energy left in him, his face slammed into the mud as he passed out not a moment after.

Reflet wiped her face and panted, lifting her feet to move herself forwards before reaching down and grabbing Donny's shoulder. "Donny, come on Donny! You gotta get up!"

Basilio came over to her and flipped him around, sliding his hand under his head. "Leave him be for now, lass. He's just asleep thanks to that stunt he pulled. No wonder, given how hard he pushed himself today. I'll carry him from here on."

He rested his axe on his back and lifted Donny up, taking him from Reflet. Turning back around, he faced Henry and called out to him.

"So now what?" Basilio asked him. "Are you finally gonna give up? Or will this be where your life ends?"

Henry tripped backwards, having to catch himself as he lifted a finger. "You'll just kill Mustafa if I let you through, won't you? Hehe, right?"

A wyvern descended from up ahead, hovering over Henry as a brown haired man tugged on the reins.

"Woah, Henry!" he said. "What happened to your chest?"

"It's okay Vasto," he answered. "I just had a little bit of a bad harvest."

The Wyvern Rider looked at the six of them before clicking his tongue. "Damn. Those thieves took more time to fight off than we expected. Once I saw some of your group running back, I knew things were going south over here. Sorry I didn't get here in time, maybe things would've played out differently."

His wyvern dropped to the ground as he got up and raised a hand towards the Shepherds. "Hang on. I don't wanna fight this. Fighting this fight is suicide at this point."

"Well alright then," Basilio said. "But if you try something, we'll be on you in an instant."

Vasto reached down, grabbing Henry by the arm. "Come on, you're coming with me."

"But what about Mustafa?" Henry said. "Doesn't he need our help?"

"You got a hole in your chest, dude." Vasto leaned forwards and grabbed Henry's other arm, getting ready to pull him up. "Besides, there's been a change of plans. Mustafa already called the battle off."

"Wait, what? What happened to him? He didn't die, did he?" Henry said as he pulled his arm back from the rider. 

"Just get on the dragon and come with me." Vasto grabbed him again and pulled him onto the wyvern, whipping its reins as it took off into the air.

"They're leaving. Did something happen with Chrom?" Reflet asked, walking up to the rest of them.

"Let's go find that out ourselves," Basilio said.

Now that there was a break in the fighting, it became apparent just how truly barren the road ahead was. There wasn't a single person left to stop them, leaving them to go through one last stretch of mud and rain. And though that made crossing through easier, it worried Reflet more than it eased her. Moments ago, the Midmire swarmed with sounds of loud fighting. Now, the only things left to hear were the rain droplets splashing into the mud.

Why did the fighting stop? Did Chrom defeat the other group? Or… did the opposite happen?

Whichever the answer was, she didn't want to wait for it. They kept running through the Midmire until they made it to the other side where the white discs that formed the walls between them sunk back into the ground. All the way to the right, at the very last road, stood two groups facing against each other, neither making a move. Basilio ordered them to cautiously go forwards until they noticed the pair of Mustafa and Chrom standing in front of the other in the middle, their weapons raised.

"Hmm." Basilio stopped running, halting the others with his hand. "Hang on."

"Why are we stopping?" Reflet said as she stopped just behind him.

"I see what's going on here," he said as his glare hardened. "This battle's not ours to fight anymore."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Reflet looked back at the two up ahead, seeing them glare at one another with a quiet intensity.

"Whatever happened during the battle before doesn't seem to matter much now," Basilio told her. "I've seen those looks countless times before, and it means only one thing. The boy's found himself in a duel. It's just him against their commander now."

* * *

"So, it has come to this," Mustafa said.

The two of them stepped to their right as they began to circle around the other. Chrom watched the crowd of his enemies staring back at him. A mage sat down in the middle, next to a wyvern rider guarding him and a healer beside him bandaging and sealing the stab wound in his chest. The state he was in was something shared by many others in the crowd.

"My request is still available. If you lower your…" 

Once Mustafa saw the look in Chrom's eyes, he turned silent. "…No. Your mind is made up."

Chrom raised his sword and gripped it tight, shifting his stances within his head before centering his blade in front of him. The form he was most used to. 

Now facing the side of the Midmire where they came from, he saw the stares of his own Shepherds, his allies. They were worn out and at their limits, with many in no condition to fight. And all their looks carried the same emotion: worry for what would happen to him.

He'd get them out of here. He had to before anything else.

"I admire your readiness to accept a quick duel to end what would've been a longer battle, but now you stand alone against me," Mustafa said. "Now is the time for you to fight for your right to leave this country."

"I've had enough talking for one day," Chrom said. "Let's finish this battle right now." 

"Hmph, very well," Mustafa said, stepping forwards. "Then the time for talk has ended! If you wish to keep your lives, then you must win them!"

Water splashed as he rushed at the man rushing back at him, opening the fight with a thrust. Mustafa shuffled backwards as the sword came at him, dodging on the spot before hooking Chrom’s blade with his short axe from above. He twisted it away from him, lunging forwards and bringing his axe down upon Chrom. Chrom lifted his sword up, backstepping away from the general as he bounced the attack off.

"Show me the kind of person you are, Ylissean Prince!" Mustafa shouted as he rushed at him without a moment to pause. Chrom slashed forwards, striking his axe before Mustafa pulled back and struck again. They clashed several times before Chrom slipped past his axe and rushed in with a slash from below. But Mustafa cleanly slipped past the blade and hooked it again, slamming his elbow into Chrom's back and knocking him down.

"Come on! Get back up and face me!" Mustafa said as he stepped back, bringing the axe in his hand forwards. "Or do you not want to live, Lowell?"

Chrom pushed his hands off the ground, looking down at the blade lying in front of him. He wiped the mud off his face and picked it up, staring at the man who spun his axe around and waited for him to come. 

Narrowing his eyes, he rushed once again at his enemy. "Haaah!" He slammed his sword against the edge of Mustafa's axe as he pressed his attack, knocking it out of the way. He slashed again as Mustafa stepped back, blocking it and the many slashes that followed.

"You have strength!" Mustafa grunted out, fending off each of the strikes that rang in the rain. "Good! Use it!"

Mustafa pulled Chrom's blade upwards and broke the clash, ramming his fist into his chest. Chrom made a pained grunt, stepping backwards as he clenched his teeth. He shouted again, stepping forwards and slashing once more when Mustafa sidestepped the entire strike. Once again, Chrom was struck down by another fist to the chest, being brought to his knees.

"If this is all you have within you, then you will not get far at this rate," Mustafa said. "If you wish to not die then get up and fight!"

Chrom planted his sword into the mud as he picked himself up again, lunging at Mustafa. "Damn you!" he shouted, thrusting his sword forwards. "Damn you! Damn you!" 

Chrom threw thrust after thrust, with each dodge and block from Mustafa drawing his ire. He quickened his thrusts and strengthened his slashes until he caught the short axe from below. With all his strength, he tore the axe away from him, shattering through Mustafa's guard as the axe fell to his feet. Mustafa stepped backwards and widened his eyes as Chrom jumped high into the air, bringing his sword over his head.

"Give me back my sister, damn it!" Chrom shouted. He spun forwards, driving his blade downwards as he shot back to the ground. Mustafa hardened his eyes, bringing his hand forwardsas he stared up at Chrom. He rolled underneath Chrom's strike as Chrom came down, picking his axe off the ground as he got back on his feet. He turned around and slashed across his back, making Chrom scream as he fell over. 

His face in the drenched mud as pain singed his back and his head. He bit his tongue, struggling to even dig his fingers into the ground to gain some kind of grip. The cold rain bashed his back as he grabbed ahold of the dirt, his entire body shaking as he pushed up with his elbows.

"Chrom!" Reflet shouted, being preemptively stopped from running towards him by Basilio. Chrom brought his knees to his chest as he lifted his back, ignoring all the pain overwhelming him as put his feet on the ground. He dragged his sword off the ground as he rose back up, turning around as he panted heavily.

Mustafa shook his head. "I'm sorry. Even if it was possible for that wish to be fulfilled, I cannot grant you that miracle."

Chrom breathed in and out even harder, water streaming down his face. "Gods… Gods damn you!" He wiped the water off his face, tightening his fist as he grabbed onto his sword's hilt. He ran at Mustafa even faster than before, bringing his sword in front of him as he struck at him again. He slashed and slashed as Mustafa blocked each hit, knocking the axe left and right with the force of his blows.

"Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!" With every slash, Chrom cursed at him with all the anger he had in him. He knocked the axe around again and again until he broke Mustafa's guard again, stepping back before slashing up along his chest. He wrapped around Mustafa as the general winced in pain, lunging backwards and raising his sword over his head. With a hiss, Chrom rushed forwards and thrusted as Mustafa turned around, stabbing him right through his chest.

"Damn you!" Chrom said as he pulled his sword out of Mustafa. He slammed his fist into the chest, slamming him in the chest again and again with both fists before smashing his elbow into his face. Mustafa howled as he flew backwards, unable to take more than a step before he fell on his back, now bloodied and weak.

"Mustafa!" One of his followers shouted, the kid with white hair from earlier. He shook himself away from the healer tending to his wounds, getting on his feet before running to his side.

"Henry!" the wyvern rider behind him called out, grabbing his spear off the ground and rushing after him. Henry got down beside the general and picked him up, holding him tightly by the shoulders.

"Mustafa! Mustafa!" he shouted, shaking the general. "Come on! Don't die! Get up!"

Mustafa coughed out blood, opening his eyes. "Impressive, Prince. I am surprised that you were able to turn this fight around."

Chrom huffed harder and harder as he looked down at the pair of Mustafa and Henry. "...Damn you!" he shouted, readying his blade again.

Mustafa's eyes opened all the way. "Prince Lowell…"

The wyvern rider froze mid-run as he reached the pair, looking Chrom in the eyes. "Hey, wait!" he said, unable to finish his words as he hurriedly drew his axe.

Henry brought Mustafa's head back down and stood up, bringing his hand forward. "Is this what you're planning to do? Huh?! You're gonna kill him like this?!"

Chrom ran ahead, rain flowing down his face as he shouted at the three of them. At that moment, Reflet lifted Basilio's hand over her head and snuck underneath, running towards him.

"Chrom! Chrom!" she called out as she raced to his side before he could reach the trio. She grabbed him by the arm, shaking him backwards.

"Chrom!" she said, stopping him from going any further.

Chrom looked down at her and hissed. "Reflet, what are you—"

"Frozen Mine!" Henry shouted, bringing his hand up and clenching it into a fist. A burst of ice suddenly exploded forth, running all along Reflet's arm and his. The two fell to their knees from the sudden attack, with the chunk of ice crawling up and down Reflet's arm.

"What?" Reflet said, looking at the ice encasing her arm. "When did…?"

She looked up at Henry, who opened his eyes and stepped closer to them. "Take another step and I'll blow you both up, right here! I won't let you kill Mustafa!"

The ice creeped up Reflet's neck, making her close an eye and wince. "I'm not... going to hurt him!"

Henry furrowed his brows, lowering his hand by an inch. "Huh?"

Reflet turned back to Chrom as he was getting back on his feet. "Chrom, you need to stop!"

Chrom shook her off as he tried to keep moving, only for Reflet to pull him back even more. 

"Reflet, let go of me!" He yanked his arm away, but Reflet jumped up to catch it, dragging it back down and splashing the muddy water at their feet. 

"No! Please, don't try to hurt them!" Reflet said. 

"Why are you stopping me, Reflet?" Chrom said, looking down at her. "These are the people that killed my sister! Emmeryn's dead! She's dead because of… because of them! All of them!"

"I know Emmeryn's gone, but this isn't right! None of this is right!"

"How would you know that?" he shouted. "Gangrel wanted her death and he wants all our deaths, too! Who next needs to be taken from me to satisfy his hunger? Liz? You? I can't let that happen, so let me go!"

He ripped her arm away from him, taking off for Mustafa.

"Stop!" Reflet dropped to the ground and grabbed him by the legs before he could get far. She made him stumble as she slipped underneath him, sliding across the mud. She kicked off the ground and ran towards Mustafa, Henry and the Wyvern Rider, turning around to face him. She raised both arms up, walling him off from the Plegian army.

Chrom stopped running as he reached her, throwing his hand backwards. "I said get out of my way!"

"No, stop!" she shouted, shaking her head.

"Why are you trying so hard to protect these people? These monsters who took my family away, Reflet! Why don't you understand?"

"I do understand!" she argued back. "And if Emm was here, she'd tell you not to kill these people! Look at them! You already beat the general, and two of them can't even fight!"

"But they're the ones who murdered my sister!"

"But you're going to murder them!" 

Reflet stepped forward even as the ice reached her chest. "Chrom, please give up. We can't stay here any longer. We're all injured, and we don't know if any more soldiers will come after us. We need to escape, and killing them like this is just… wrong. Emm didn't want this."

"How would you…"

Streams fell to the mud as he loosened his grip on his blade. It fell to the ground as he sobbed, falling to his hands and knees. He kneeled there and cried, screaming his sister's name out.

Reflet turned around to the three men behind her. "Umm… you should go heal your captain."

She walked over to Chrom's side, reaching down for him. She grabbed him with both arms, picking his head up and wiping the tears off his cheeks with her right hand. "There, there."

The ice around her left hand shattered as Henry waved his hand to the right, who left to the back of the Plegian group while the Wyvern Rider carried Mustafa out of there.

"Cordie, help me please?" Reflet said, grabbing onto Chrom's sides as she lifted him an inch. Cordelia came over to them, stroking Chrom by the head.

"Thank you Chrom," she said, taking him from Reflet and wiping his face as well. "And thank you, Reflet. I should've stopped him myself."

Reflet looked back at the rest of the Shepherds, nervously trying to speak, "Come on everyone, let's get out of here."

"She's right," Cordelia said, "Chrom won, so let's get going."


	26. Night of Fate

Reflet let the others take Chrom from Cordelia and herself as the Plegians cleared the way, letting them through. It hurt her, having to see Chrom in pain like that.

The Wyvern Rider from moments ago, Vasto, approached the pair of girls, stopping them before they could leave.

"Hey, the boss has something to say to you..." Vasto stopped as he pointed his finger at Reflet. "What's your face? I mean, name."

"Umm, Reflet?" she answered.

"Reflet, huh?" he said, casually shaking his finger. "That's a… a name." 

He shook his finger even faster. "Your name's Reflet, you're sure?"

"Reflet Amni, she picked it herself," Cordelia said. "Is something the matter?"

Vasto knitted his brows until eventually he threw his hand down. "Ah, nevermind. Sorry if that seemed weird. Got confused for a moment. Anyways, yeah, Mustafa wants to see her. And you can come, too, uhh…"

"Cordelia," Cordelia answered.

"Thank you." He pointed behind himself, gesturing for them to follow. Cordelia looked at Reflet and gave her a confused shrug, after which they both followed him to where Mustafa and Henry sat.

Mustafa looked up at them, pushing down on his knees as he got up with a grunt. He coughed into his shoulder, wiping his beard with it before placing his hands over the bandages around his chest.

"You there, your name is Reflet, yes?" Mustafa said, reaching a hand out.

Reflet's eyebrows twisted as she looked to Cordelia, who gestured for her to take his hand. 

"Umm, it's nice to meet you," Reflet said as she shook his hand before bowing. "Thank you for letting us pass finally, even though we had to fight."

Mustafa smiled at her, shaking her hand somewhat forcefully when compared to her own handshake. "I intend to fully honor my word, and it would not do well to keep fighting at this point." 

He let go of her hand, holding on to his chest again. "My soldiers are at their limits. And though we did fight against your Prince's squad, there were many of us who did not wish to fight at all."

"Wait, so then why did you fight us?" she asked.

"Loyalty, young Miss," Mustafa answered. "For those under my command, that loyalty was placed in me. And for myself, that loyalty is to the king above all else."

"Loyalty, I could understand. But loyalty to Gangrel?" Cordelia said. "You saw how he acted today, right? How could you put your faith in him after everything going on?"

"You tell me," Vasto said, "'cause after today, I sure don't know why, even after what the boss told me."

Mustafa shook his head. "The person you saw today is not how he always acts. Every decision he's taken in his rule has been in service to the kingdom. Without him, our country would've been a barren wasteland no less than five years ago. Yet, my doubts as to whether prolonging this war will really be for our country's benefit continue to grow. I follow him, but I see no sense in fighting anymore."

"So in a nutshell you're saying we could've avoided this fight," Vasto said dryly.

"You're a sassy one, aren't you?" Mustafa said, quietly scoffing as he set himself back on the ground. "You know I couldn't do that. That'd be abandoning my friend without giving him a chance to speak. Besides, you were there when I said I needed to know whether the man I fought today was the same as the one before him." 

"The one before him, who's that?" Reflet asked them.

Mustafa went quiet as he brought himself forwards. "His father, Reflet. The Exalt before his daughter."

"Oh…" Reflet said, going quiet as well.

"Us Plegians feared him for laying waste to our people and our country," Mustafa said. "Naturally, it wasn't a surprise to see so many fearing the Future Exalt, that is, when she was younger and not yet the leader of Ylisse. And when Gangrel told me of what he knew of Chrom when they first met, I hoped for better, but I also prepared for the worst."

Cordelia crossed one arm over the other. "So then what do you think of him?"

"I believe he is a rash man," he answered, looking at her. "To say otherwise would be improper when I have seen him first hand. The fury inside him may have won him this battle, but it was what nearly cost him it, aswell. Such anger does not make for an efficient leader in the long run."

Cordelia's brows furled as she shifted her body to the side. "Hmm. Well after that fight, it makes sense you'd think that. But just like what you said with your king, Chrom isn't as bad as you think."

"I didn't say anything in regards to whether he was bad or not." Mustafa grinned. "Forgive me if it seemed that I was speaking poorly of your lover."

Cordelia's cheeks burned as hot as a fire as she made a high shriek. "H-he's not my lover!" She stammered out, turning her head away. "It's not like I like him or anything!"

"Hah, you totally do," Vasto added.

"Knock it off!" she snipped.

Mustafa chuckled. "In anycase, I do not mean to say he is not a good person. In his eyes, I see the desire to protect those he cares about. And in his words, I see the same. Those eyes weren't the same ones I saw in the King of Massacres. The man who Gangrel claims him to be is a man who has done far worse."

He turned towards Reflet. "But I believe I have you to thank for that. Had you not stepped in, I would no longer be here today. And I don't know if either of my lieutenants would've made it out in one piece, either."

"Oh, thank you." Reflet lowered her head before she bowed, her cheeks reddening. "I just did what felt right to me."

"Of course. Your actions today are what I'd consider heroic," he said.

"Heroic?" Reflet shook her head, looking down as she played with a hair curl. "Are you sure? I don't think that was heroic, it really just was what I thought I should've done." 

First it was Donny, now it was him. That's the second time someone's called her a hero. But what she did wasn't really heroic, was it?

Mustafa shook his head once more. "There aren't many others who spend their lives fighting that would do what you did. Understandably so, an enemy is an enemy. Yet to try to save others because you believe it's right, even though they might be your enemy, I believe that is the true mark of a hero."

"If you say so…" Reflet blushed harder, lifting her head up and smiling shyly. "I'm glad you think that way of me. Thank you."

"So, what do we do now Mustafa?" Vasto asked.

"Well," Mustafa said, getting back on his feet. "I'm returning straight to Plegia to commit to what I said I would do. I'm going to find our king and convince him to end this war. 

"Do you really think Gangrel's going to listen to you?" Cordelia asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "The king's ire has been drawn out, which bodes well for none. But if he is to listen to reason, then it'll have to come from me. I've known him longer than anyone else has."

"How are our wyverns?" he said, turning to Vasto. "Can they still carry us?"

"Most of them are still in good shape," Vasto said. "We should be able to fly out of here."

"Good, then let's get out of here," Mustafa said. "Vasto! Henry! We have no need to idle here any longer! Let's round up the others and make our way back to the capital!"

"It's just as you say," Vasto said. He looked down, grabbing the arm of a nearby Henry who sat in silence the whole entire time, listening in on their conversation.

"Come on, kiddo," he said, dragging him upwards. "Looks like I'm gonna have to watch out for two fools with stab wounds in their chests."

"Yeah," Henry said, getting up with his help. He followed behind two older men, looking back at Reflet when he stopped walking. He stared at Reflet with a pair of cold, silver eyes, his smile long gone.

Reflet looked down at her feet, unsure of what to say to him. She didn't really focus on him until now, as back then her priority was Libra's wounds and then just trying to keep out of the way of harm. 

"Umm," Reflet said, scratching her cheek, "...Is there something you need?"

"You're strange, you know?" he said.

"Eh, strange?" Reflet said, flinching back.

"Yeah, you're really strange!" Henry brought his head forwards. "It's like what Mustafa said. Most people wouldn't go out of their way to try to save the people who just tried to kill you, but you did exactly that! That makes you really strange compared to the rest!"

"Oh, I guess you're right then. Maybe?" Reflet brought her hands to her chest and looked up to the grey sky. First she's a hero and now she's strange. Which one was it?

"I mean, I guess maybe Mustafa would do it," Henry continued, bringing a finger up. "Like that pretty lady from earlier. Maybe they're strange like you, too. That'd make it a good strange, right? Because if you weren't strange, Muspapa would be dead, and that wouldn't be very fun."

"I guess?" Reflet said. She looked to her left, pausing as she thought about what he might've meant. She felt like she half knew what he meant, and was half completely lost. If that made any sense at all. He said that Mustafa is weird, alongside the other lady. Was the other lady Emmeryn? But if those two were weird for wanting to save others, then they would be weird for a good reason. Then she would also be weird, but for good reasons as well.

"I think I get it," she said, nodding her head. "Thank you too."

"It kinda makes sense?" Cordelia said, tilting her head towards Reflet while whispering for her to explain later.

"No, thank you though!" Henry said to Reflet, smiling again. "You were the one I got to share ice cream and make fowl jokes with!"

"Hang on, when did this happen?" Cordelia said.

"Uh, I met him when we bumped into each other a few weeks ago. Back when Chrom sent me to scout out the capital." Reflet turned to Henry. "Speaking of ice, what was that spell that you used to freeze my arm?"

"Oh that?" Henry said, swishing a finger around. "Simple, when we were eating ice cream together, I placed a small, little icy hex on your shoulder. That way, at any point I wanted to, I could just make it go kaboom!"

"All the way back then?" Reflet said. That explained why she felt cold when he touched her.

"But if this was weeks ago, then you're saying you planned this far ahead?" Cordelia asked.

"Eh, it was more of a hunch." Henry said, bringing his hands up. "After all, there's only so many reasons why a rabbit lady would be speeding towards you. Either she thinks you're her enemy, or she wants your carrot as a snack. And I did not have a carrot on me. So when I saw Panne chasing after me, I assumed she was working with Reflet and that other guy, which meant I'd probably have to fight all three at some point."

"Okay, I think I follow along," Cordelia said, slowly nodding her head. "But then how could you have kept that spell going for several weeks?"

"Oh, that? That was a piece of cake for me!" Henry said, summoning a small, square stick of ice into his hand. 

"I did say ice magic comes naturally to me, and it's true. I've been using it since I was just a wee baby. If I wanted to, I probably could've kept the spell going for four more weeks as long as you didn't notice it. It's so easy for me, I bet I could probably teach you two ice magic."

"You'd do that for us?" Reflet asked.

"Sure!" he said. "You want more popsicles, right? Why not have the power to make them out of thin air? Then you could share them with more friends, too."

Reflet squinted, staring at the stick of ice in his hands. "That does sound tasty…" she said, licking her lips. "I may take your offer one day."

"Great. It'll be a chill time for all of us! Nyeheh!"

Henry turned around to catch up to his allies, only to turn back around and look at her once more.

"What are you staying here for?" Henry said. He lifted his finger, narrowing his eyes as his smile grew wider. "Isn't there somewhere you have to go? Come on, get going or you're gonna be late!"

And with another laugh, he got back on Vasto's wyvern as Mustafa's group took to the skies.

"If you ask me, I think he might be the strangest out of all of us," Cordelia said. "The way he changed his mood was so quick. It was kind of scary."

"Yeah," Reflet said. "And he was incredibly strong, too. It took everyone just to fight him." 

She looked upwards, watching him and the other Plegians head into the distant skies. "But I think he really is good. The others made me think he might've not been, but I don't think he's a bad person at all."

"I guess you could say the same for Mustafa and the others he was with," Cordelia said, lowering her eyes. "It makes you really wonder whether we really should be fighting them."

Reflet looked down as well. "Yeah, you're right."

Cordelia turned her head back towards the rest of them, saying nothing for a moment before she quietly sighed. "Let's get out of here."

"Mmhm," Reflet said. The two of them joined the rest of the group, heading up north. The remains of Grima grew smaller and smaller as they put it behind them, lying dormant in the rain.

* * *

After what seemed like an eternal day to her, they finally reached the safety of the West Ferox capital. Tired, muddied and bandaged, Reflet could only watch her friends head off in their own directions, standing in the foyer of the citadel. After a few blinks, the Shepherds vanished before her, carrying off their wounded and leaving only herself and Frederick behind.

Reflet made a yawn as she covered her mouth. "What time was it?" she asked, looking at him.

"I believe it's almost a quarter to midnight," he answered, looking at the clock on the left wall. "May I ask something? Everyone else seems to be heading to sleep now. Are you not going to follow suit?"

"Maybe? I'm not sure." Reflet rubbed her eyes, feeling just how heavy they were.

"I feel the exact same way," Frederick said. "To tell you the truth, I'd rather spend the last moments of tonight processing what went on today."

Frederick turned to the hallway to the left, pointing to the soft bench beside the large windows the rain struck upon, creating a low hum. "Care to sit down with me over there?"

Reflet rubbed her eyes again and walked over to the bench. "Sure, let's sit down." 

She took her seat on the left side of the bench, taking up comparatively little space next to the tall man sitting across from her. Bringing her hands away from her eyes, she placed them on her lap and looked up at the knight.

"It's a blessing from Naga that we were able to make it out today in the state we're in," Frederick said. We'll need all the time we can get to recover from two battles and a march in one day."

"Yeah," Reflet said, placing her hand underneath where her shirt had torn apart, touching her exposed waist. "What was it like on your side, fighting back at Grima's remains?"

"Not the easiest, but we were able to manage until General Mustafa proposed his duel. We're lucky he did, otherwise we might've lost a valuable ally who didn't deserve to die."

Reflet nodded her head, saying nothing when she turned to him again and saw the sad look in his eyes. They were darker than before, like they were lost in that forest they spent the first night in. Frederick closed his eyes as Reflet looked down at his clasped bare hands. His fingers dug in between his knuckles, shuffling around roughly and erratically.

"Are you okay, Frederick?"

Frederick suddenly snapped at her. "How could I be, Reflet?"

Reflet flinched back, leaning past the edge of the bench as she yelped in fear. Frederick immediately turned to look at her, softening his expression as he looked away in shame. 

"Forgive me. I lost my temper there, it wasn't meant to be directed at you." He scratched his nose with the back of his hand as he groaned behind his teeth. "There's nothing wrong with what you asked of me or your intentions. I'm just furious with how everything played out. As a knight and the second-in-command of the Shepherds, I must maintain a levelled head at all times. It's improper to do otherwise, as without a calm and stalwart leader, the others will fall." 

He brought his hand to his forehead as he pressed down on it and hissed louder. "But damn if this doesn't infuriate me!"

"It's okay," Reflet said, loosening her shoulders. She took a deep breath, trying to think of what she should say. 

"...You're angry, and I think I get it." Reflet looked at the wall in front of her. "I've seen a lot of people angry today. They're angry because people are getting hurt, the people they care about. Henry was angry, and Chrom was too, so I think you can be angry, too."

"...Thank you Reflet," he said, picking his head up. "It'd be nice to not have to hide my anger all the time."

"Why do you need to?"

"Heh, I suppose you've never seen Ylisse's noble court before." Frederick cracked a light smile amidst his anger. "You spend most of your childhood learning to be a postering prick so that you can grow up to posture to bigger pricks," he said, laughing at the end of his words.

"Wow, I've never seen you like this," Reflet said, lifting her eyebrows. "And, umm, that sounds terrible. I'm sorry."

"Then I'm doing my job effectively," Frederick said. "Granted, I've never had a reason to be so angry until now, and some of the others such as Liz and Chrom have known me like this when I was younger. And don't be sorry for something outside your control, either. On the bright side, I don't have to deal with the noble court nearly as much as I did back then."

"But today was—pardon my Feroxian—a shit day for all of us," Frederick said. "In one stroke, our entire mission turned into a near-complete failure. The fact that my smallest loss was that I had to discard my armor is a testament to how poorly today went. And that's nothing compared to the state most of us are in."

He brought his hand up and gripped his forehead again. "Gods… damn it. Now Phila's dead, too. She shouldn't have died. None of the Pegasus Knights should've died at all." 

"...Yeah," Reflet said, turning her eyes to the floor. "I'm sorry."

"I made the call to bring them all in, and that was my mistake," he said. "I wasn't expecting that archer to appear, nor for him to strike so quickly with those arrows of his. There was no time for anyone to react against it."

He shook his head. "We spent all that time planning so that they'd be able to get through this without so much as a scratch on them, and look at what happened. I don't even know what to say anymore."

Frederick sat in silence for a moment, keeping his head down. "I'm sorry, Phila. And sorry to everyone that died today. None of you deserved to lose your lives."

"...I'm sorry too," Reflet said.

There was a second, longer pause after that, where neither of the two spoke. Neither said anything, or did anything, or thought anything beyond staring at the floor. It stayed like this until Reflet heard him sob. Lifting her head up, she saw him crying behind the hand covering his eyes. 

"Emmeryn," he said. "I'm sorry Emmeryn... Dear Naga, I'm sorry…"

"Freddy…" Reflet said.

"Damn it," Frederick grunted out as he clenched his teeth. "We should've saved her. _I should've saved her._ She's our queen. My queen! And I'm supposed to be her knight. But I couldn't even protect her when she needed it the most!"

Frederick put both hands over his face as he leaned further forward, sobbing and crying even more. Reflet felt a sting in her heart as she moved closer to him, putting her hand on his back. 

"Freddy… I'm sorry too." Reflet leaned forwards, wrapping her arms around him to hug him while he cried. 

"Why?" he sobbed out. "Why did she have to be taken away like this? I'd rather have died protecting her than be here while she's not! So why!? Why?"

"Freddy… that's…" Reflet looked downwards. "I don't want you to die… either…"

Maybe he hadn't heard anything, but the larger man didn't respond as the tiny girl shut her eyes and held him tighter. She didn't know what to say, or what she could say. All she felt was the pain he was feeling.

"I'm sorry…" she said.

"Emmy!" Frederick said, biting his tongue only for his words to break through as he cried harder. "Dear gods, Emmy I'm sorry! I'm so sorry I couldn't save you!"

Reflet shut her eyes tighter as she hugged him tighter. "I'm sorry…"

She didn't say anything as Frederick cried and wailed, sobbing and sobbing as he called her name and asked why over and over. She didn't say anything as the minutes passed by, until ten had passed and things quieted down.

After everything was said and after he could no longer cry, Frederick let his hands fall down as he took Reflet's hands off of himself and got up. 

"Forgive me, Reflet, for troubling you by letting you see me like this," he said quietly, looking at her. 

Reflet looked up, staring at him. "No… You didn't do anything wrong…"

Frederick huffed out a breath, wiping his own cheeks. "Thank you," he said, giving her a small, fleeting smile. He left her, heading off back into the main hall before disappearing.

Reflet leaned back, resting slanted on the back of the wooden bench. She did nothing except touch the soft fabric she sat on with her hands, listening to the rain hitting the windows and doors of glass and wooden frames, creating that hum again.

Phila was dead.

The Pegasus Knights were dead.

Liz is unconscious.

Donny is unconscious.

Frederick is sad.

Chrom's sad.

Everyone's sad.

"Emm," Reflet said as she blinked, as if coming to wake. 

Emm. Emmeryn.

Emm was dead.

Reflet leaned forwards, crossing her legs and pressing down on her feet with a hand. She pulled out the ring Emmeryn gave her from what remained of her skirt, staring through the center.

"Emm is dead," she said. "She died."

"We failed. The plan didn't work. My plan didn't work."

"All I tried to do, it all failed. I'm sorry Emmeryn."

She started to cry, hearing sobs. Her sobs. Reflet's leg wiggled and shook as she looked down at it and sobbed.

"I'm sorry, Emmeryn!" she said quietly. "I'm sorry, Emm!"

She closed her eyes as another sob forced its way out of her. "I'm sorry, Chrom! I'm sorry, Liz!"

She sniffled, whining as her heart burned up. "I'm sorry, Cordie! I'm sorry, Freddy!"

She shook her head left and right as she cried harder, too. "I'm sorry everyone, I'm sorry!"

She shouted louder, sobbed louder just like Frederick. She looked ahead of herself, crying louder as she stared at the inner wall of the hallway.

And then it all stopped at once. Reflet stared at the wall, wide eyed and mouth half parted.

"I'm sorry, Marth." 

She uncrossed her legs, putting them on the ground as she grabbed the bench tighter.

"I'm sorry Marth. I'm sorry Marth!"

Reflet cried once more as she called out her name again, "Marth! Mar-Mar!"

She grabbed her hair, covering her eyes as she tugged down on it. "Mar-Mar!" she sniffled out. "Mar-Mar! Mar-Mar, Mar-Mar, Mar-Mar!"

Marth said Emm wasn't supposed to die! She died! She died because of her failure! Emmeryn died! She let Emmeryn die!

Reflet cried out Mar-Mar's name again and again, shaking her head. "Mar-Mar! Mar-Mar!"

Why wasn't Mar-Mar here? If she was here with her, they may have been able to do something! Maybe she herself could've made a better plan with Mar-Mar's help! Maybe Mar-Mar would have been able to stop this altogether!

Where was Mar-Mar? Where was Mar-Mar?

"Mar-Mar! Mar-Mar…! Mar-Mar…"

Reflet sniffled, letting go of her hair. "Where are you Mar-Mar? Where are you…?"

* * *

Two pairs of footsteps splashed through the rain with every step, blazing ahead even as the rain bombarded their hoods, their clothes, and their faces.

"Is that it? That has to be it, right?!" the one trailing slightly behind said.

"It must be! It's the biggest building here!" the one in front answered back.

"Then come on!"

The one behind picked up the pace, passing the one in front to get to the citadel even quicker. The other one followed suit and picked up their pace, racing alongside their ally.

 _Gotta reach_ _them now._

_I have to reach them now._

_I have to get to them now._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new challenger has arrived!
> 
> Hehe. I'm teasing.
> 
> And that's another three-parter out of the way! We're finally out of the 6 chapter beast that made up Ch.9 and 10 of Awakening. I'll be honest, I got a little burnt out of having to write so many fights back to back with little comfort in between. But they were important, and now things can wind down just a little bit.
> 
> So like, did you actually know that Basilio was a pirate before becoming the Khan? He mentions such in his relationship tile quotes with Morgan if they're his kid.
> 
> "Scythe Libra. Scythe Libra," I chant as I wrote this chapter. Joking aside, I had too much fun writing him. I get that he starts off with an axe, but scythes are nice. It actually helped me figure out his way of fighting. His near-total disregard of injuries and just the vicious way he strikes his opponent. It made me think about the Death Knight, actually, and how he uses a scythe, too. Just tangentially.
> 
> Now that we've finished this string of chapters, we've got one last chapter to go through before we're in the clear. The 27th chapter "Road Taken" is up next! And it's a very special one. It has by far one of my favorite scenes I've written so far that I wanna polish up. I got to go a little out there when writing it, more out there than usual.
> 
> Please, let me know what you think in the comments! Do you have any things you like? Things you don't like and criticisms? I'd like to hear, as it would help me refine the story! You could also even just say good job and such. That's good enough for me. But comments make me really happy!
> 
> Later!


	27. Road Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh! This chapter was a bit of an experiment for myself. It took a while to get out, I got so burnt out editing that it took far longer to post after it was done. But I hope you enjoy!

"And that's gonna cost you only fifty Yinny," Anna said, handing her a stick with bear meat on it.

"That cheap?" Marth said.

"Sure. You deserve it after what you did." Anna winked as she leaned forwards, resting her arms on the tall table they stood next to.

"Well I suppose that makes sense. Thank you, Anna." Marth shrugged, taking a bite out of her meal.

"You're welcome." Anna winked again, leaning even closer as Lon'qu came into the palace barracks.

"Hey everyone. We just got a letter from Chrom," Lon'qu said, carrying an envelope in one hand and a knife in the other.

"Ooh, I wonder who it's from!" Anna said.

"Did you not hear him? He said it was from Chrom," Marth repeated. "What does it say, Lon'qu?"

Lon'qu flicked his hair back as he raised the envelope to his eyes, slashing it open and pulling out the letter within. "It says he needs us to go on a mission for him. And he's asking the four of us personally."

"The four of us?" Marth questioned. "But aren't there onl—"

"He means me."

"Gah!" Marth shouted as she jolted in her seat. She turned her head backwards, shouting at the curtain behind her. "Gods damn it, Kellam!"

"Haha, it happened again." Kellam phased into existence as he creeped out of the curtain, walking over to the table.

"Why were you hiding there?" Marth asked.

"I don't know. It seemed like a good way to scare you," Kellam said, letting out an evil chuckle.

Marth's jaw dropped as she let out a shrilly "Why?" But before she could get a response, she was suddenly grabbed by the head and made to turn her towards Anna.

"Hey, you're not allowed to swear, young missy!" she said to her, pointing her finger in front of Marth's face as she scowled.

"Huh? What? Swears—" Marth said in confusion only to be cut off by a poke to a nose from Anna. "H-hey!"

"Boop! Anna said, poking her again and again with her index finger. "Boop-boop-boop!" 

"Oww! Stop!" Marth grabbed Anna's hand, keeping her from poking again. "I didn't even say any swears! Why are you acting so strangely?"

"What do you mean?" Anna said, still smiling as she kept trying to poke her. "I've always acted like this."

"No you haven't," Marth argued, leaning away from her. "You all are acting differently than usual. Kellam doesn't scare people for fun, and I've never seen Lon'qu flip his hair backwards." 

She lowered Anna's hand only for the merchant to switch from poking her to poking the table. "And you don't poke me or tables."

"I'm pretty sure I'm always like this," Kellam said with a quieter yet still evil chuckle.

"If you've never seen me flip my hair back, how do you know it's never happened?" Lon'qu said, raising a hand.

"Fair point," Marth said, lifting her finger in response. "But I stand by my point that Kellam and Anna aren't acting as they usually do."

Anna tilted her head as she winked for the third time. "I don't think I'm acting out of character. Are you sure you're not misremembering, Lucina?"

"I'm fairly sure I'm…" 

Marth cut off as she widened her eyes. "Wait, how do you know my real name?"

Marth turned to Anna when she didn't reply, only to find her standing still and staring at her as if she were a stone statue. She did nothing except stare and smile, a smile which quickly devolved from friendly to unnerving and unsettling.

"Anna? Are you okay?" Marth said, waving her hand in front of Anna's eyes. "Why are you frozen like that?"

"Huh?" Anna said. She blinked innocently, tilting her head for the second time. "What's wrong, Mar-Mar?"

Marth's cheeks flushed as she shuffled backwards. "You don't call me that!" she shrieked in a mix of defensiveness and embarrassment.

Anna made a pout as she scooted herself closer to Marth. "You're acting so strange today. Haven't I always called you Mar-Mar?" She giggled and grinned, leaning closer to Marth as she tried to wrap herself around her left arm. 

Marth's face flashed hotter as she yanked herself away. "You are definitely not the Anna I know!" She pushed Anna away from her, yet instead of Anna being shoved back, it was Marth who slipped right through the merchant as if she were a ghost. Taken by surprise, she tripped over her feet and tumbled to the ground, smacking her face on the floor.

"Crap!" Marth said. She groaned, pushing herself up with her arms. Amidst her confusion, she shifted her body around to face Anna, gasping loudly over the strange, horrific thing she witnessed happening to the merchant.

"Oh gods, Anna?!" Marth said, watching as Anna began to sweat heavily. Anna's sweat turned heavier and heavier until eventually she started melting outright. Her skin and color disintegrated away, leaving nothing but a melting black silhouette that Marth could do nothing but look on in horror at. In moments, she was nothing but a black, tar-like puddle, pooling with two other puddles where Kellam and Lon'qu once stood.

"Dear Naga, what on earth is happening?" Marth cried out as the room and everything around her melted before her eyes. The very floor then pulled itself from underneath her as if it were a rug, leaving her to fall down a dark pit below.

"Wait!" Marth screamed as she dropped and began to fall. She grabbed the edge of the floor, hanging by the bare tips of her fingers. She struggled to pull herself up when the black sludge seeped onto her fingers and gloves, tainting them in a foul and sticky ink-like substance. Yet a substance slippery enough to loosen her grip. Her fingers slipped off the edge one by one until she left hanging by one left, dropping another inch into the pit.

"Help! Someone, help!" she cried out, trying to reach up and cling back onto the edge. Yet no one came. Her strength gave out as she finally slipped from the ledge, plunging down into the darkness below.

"Bye-bye! Make sure to mail me the falling-into-a-pit fee!" 

The voice of Anna giggled as Marth plummeted downwards, descending into the void as the light above grew smaller and smaller until it vanished out of sight. 

Was this it? Was this how she was going to die? She closed her eyes in fear, not wanting to accept what awaited her as she fell headfirst through the deep, pitch-black pit. She fell and fell with the speed of an arrow, crashing straight into the ground. Pain shot through her entire body as she laid there on the floor, coughing and groaning.

After a few seconds, she weakly grunted and rolled herself onto her side. Though the pain overwhelming her fought against her, she was able to pull herself onto her feet, resting her hands on her knees.

"…That fall should have killed me," she said to herself, taking heavy breaths as she looked down at her hands. Despite all the pain, she didn't receive any bruises or injuries for it. That was rather strange, but she should be thankful she survived at all.

With another breath, she lifted her head and looked around the dark, strange place she landed in. There were no walls, no ceiling, or even a proper floor to stand on. It was like she stood on a plane of glass, one barely keeping her from falling into the nothing below again. Cloaking this place was a thin shroud of fog that reached her knees, gliding past itself as it slithered along the vast plane that stretched for miles and miles.

"What kind of place is this?" she said, looking around for some sort of an exit. Seeing nothing around her, it seemed she had no other option but to go forward. Her boots clicked with every step, echoing loudly as the only sound in the dark.

Looking down at her fingers and gloves, whatever sludge was on them seemed to have magically vanished. That was a good thing, at least. She'd be better off if the floor gave way again, although she hoped that wouldn't be the case.

After some length of time, something slashing echoed in the air, putting her on alert. A weapon? She headed in the direction of the noise, the sound of her steps ringing against whatever was ahead. As she grew closer, a small, brown light glowed from up ahead. Picking up the pace, she ran straight towards it, seeing the light for what it truly was by the time she reached it. 

It was a black silhouette of a tall man training with a lance, with a brown outline around his shape. His stance was firm, with each strike quick and precise. 

She reached for him, only to hesitate as she pulled her hand back. She watched the silhouette for a minute, who paid no attention to her as he kept striking the air. He wasn't going to melt like Anna did, was he? She waited a little longer, trying to confirm whether or not he'd do so as to not be caught off guard again. When it seemed like that wasn't the case, she finally stepped closer to him, tapping him on the shoulder. 

"Excuse me, hello?" she asked.

The brown silhouette halted mid-slash, turning to reveal his face. Or rather, a lack of one. If not for his face and hands, which were as dark as everything else in the room, he would've looked like an ordinary man.

He rested the spear in his hand, letting it point to the ground as he said nothing to her, choosing to wait for her to speak. Or so she assumed.

"Do you know where the exit is?" she asked, feeling awkward as she stared at his expressionless face. As unnerving as staring at a mannequin-like man was, at least it was a vast improvement to what happened with Anna.

The silhouette twirled his lance, turning around and pointing forwards. That's when a thin, square block of light rose from the ground. Then another block formed, hovering just above the first. Then another came, and then another. Marth lifted her head as they continued to form one by one in circles, stacking behind one another until they eventually formed one massive spiral staircase that rose into the air, breaking through the darkness like a white beam of light.

"I have to climb that?" Marth said, looking back at him. He gave her a nod, patting her twice on the shoulder. He then returned to his lance thrusting, leaving her to travel by herself.

She looked back at the road ahead, swallowing the air in her throat. It was certainly a long way up, but it wasn't like there was another way to get out of here. Taking her first step, she began her journey up the skyward staircase. However high it reached didn't matter to her, so long as getting to the top meant she'd be out of this dark, misty place of nothingness. Even a minute of being here was long enough, given what happened just moments before.

After travelling up many flights of steps, Marth stumbled across another silhouette waiting for her. A woman with a pink outline, who stood in a perfectly refined and dignified manner as if she'd practice her technique for years.

"And you are?" Marth asked.

Like the other silhouette, the woman said nothing, only giving a light rub on the head before sending her off. Marth tilted her head in confusion as she walked past the woman, who waved goodbye as she climbed once again.

Who was she? Was she able to talk, or what?

Marth put it behind her as she continued walking up the steps of light. After trekking up another dozen or so flights, eventually she came across another woman. This woman had a yellow outline, and was slightly shorter than the pink one. She seemed excited to see her, waving even before she approached.

"Hello there," Marth said as she walked up to her, putting her hands on her sides. "Let me guess. You can't talk, and you're about to pat me like the others?"

The woman nodded rapidly before slamming her on the back, taking the wind out of her sails. She wheezed loudly as the woman squeezed her in a hug, gasping for dear breath. The woman then gave her an actual pat on the back as she pushed her onto the next step, waving Marth goodbye like the woman before her. 

Marth furrowing her brows, turning back towards the woman. These people seemed so… nice. Discounting the slam to her back, of course, seeing her wave her off like this made Marth a bit sad to leave. And she felt the same thing towards the others down below.

She sighed, shaking her head as she continued to move on. She still could not afford to stay.

After many, many more steps up what felt like an ever winding staircase, she caught sight of another woman on the opposite side from where she stood. Her outline was a lighter yellow than the other girl before her. And she was much taller, too, which was made apparent as she calmly stood and waited for Marth to reach her.

She'd grown tired of walking up this staircase by now, but continued forwards, taking step after step along the path. Upon finally reaching the woman, she stopped in place and looked her in the eyes—where they would've been at least.

Seeing this woman waiting for her made her frown, although she was unsure of why. Marth put her hand on her heart as she stood there, just staring at her as the woman came forwards. She brought her arms around her, giving her a warm hug. When she pulled away and gave her a goodbye nod, she left Marth with a knot in her stomach, one which stayed with her as she continued down her path.

These people, they seemed so… familiar. No, more than that. Familial?

That knot didn't go away for a while, even after climbing the many flights awaiting her. And now it seemed like the steps themselves were getting longer with every step. On top of that, no one else greeted her once she passed the last silhouette. She was alone, forced to climb up this stairway without an end in silence.

Why was she even here, anyways? Was this really the right way to go? Marth didn't know, but she’d already climbed so much, she didn't think she could go back. Not now. Not after doing what she did. 

Having travelled up the road for what seemed like hours, she steadily grew wearier as time passed by her. Holding her face up, she rubbed her eyes, wishing this was over already. But she kept going, continuing up and up the stairway until eventually a blue light shone from above. Shining so many flights higher along the twisting road, the light was a mere speck from where she stood.

But a light ahead meant she was bound to find someone else, so Marth rushed up the steps in an attempt to reach it. Slowly she made her way to the top, running around and around in circles. Though as she kept running, so too did she began to slow down, with each flight taking more from her than the last. And no matter how high she got, the end never seemed to draw closer. The road just kept going on forever. And so did she, no matter how exhausting it was. It's not like she had the choice otherwise.

By the time she reached the final set of stairs where the light awaited, she exhausted herself to the point where she could hardly want to lift her legs. But she pushed forwards, taking the last steps one at a time as her feet clicked on the white blocks of light. The blue light glowed with warmth as Marth made it to the very last step, lifting her tired head up to see that it was—

Marth's hand dropped to her side, reaching towards him without thinking. "F… Father," she said, recognizing him immediately.

Her father stood straight with his arms crossed, looking back at her. Even without being able to see his face, it almost seemed like he was filled with pride.

"Father," she said again. He held out his hand, reaching it out for her to take. She looked down at it, bringing her own further towards his.

Only she couldn't touch him. Her hand pressed down on the air in front of her, as if there was an invisible barrier between her and her father.

"Wait…" Marth said, trying to push the barrier again. And again, her hand was pushed back as waves rippled along the wall like clear water in a pond. She tried again and again to go push past it so she could take her father's hand, yet her hand just kept bouncing off each time.

Her father lowered his head and shook it disappointingly, somehow managing to step through the barrier when Marth couldn't. Marth stared at him as he passed by her, when the barrier abruptly vanished as she still had her hands on it. She tripped and nearly fell flat on the floor, caching herself and getting on her knees as she watched him leave without even staring back on her.

"Wait!" Marth reached up, trying to grab his hand only to miss it by a sliver of distance when the floor started rumbling. The entire staircase shot towards the black ceiling, lifting her and her father with it as it knocked her off balance. She tumbled backwards, nearly falling into the darkness below only to hit her head on a newly formed step appearing behind her. The staircase continued to rise as Marth pulled herself back on her feet in spite of the quaking beneath her. She looked up to see hundreds of steps forming above her, creating a new stairway as lengthy as the one she just travelled where a pair of red and white lights stood at the end. And behind them, a doorway. An exit leading to the real world.

"Red and white…" Marth said, looking up ahead. Yet when she looked back down and saw her father disappearing down the staircase below, the pain weighing her heart down grew.

"Father!" she called out, stepping towards him only to stop and look back at the exit above. The staircase shook harder than before, bringing her to her knees as cracks formed in the light beneath her feet. Marth looked back at her father and then to the sky, torn between which to chase after. Clenching her fist and looking back up for the last time, Marth rushed after her father a second before the floor cracked apart.

"Father! Father, where are you?" Marth called out as she sprinted down the winding stairway in her attempt to reunite with him. The steps behind her crumbled one after the other, shattering into glass-like shards. They crumbled faster with each second until the glass at her feet shattered with every step as she barely managed to outrun them. Tears formed in her eyes as she called for her father again, falling over when the floor before her gave way right as she stepped onto it. She tumbled forwards, landing down onto the next step in front of her. It was already on the verge of breaking, loudly crackling apart before she could even get up.

The floor gave way, bursting into shards underneath her as she fell down once again. But then a hand appeared right before she plummeted, catching her by the arm and keeping her likely death. Whoever caught her grabbed her with their other hand, pulling her up and back onto the stairway. Marth caught a glimpse of their red hair as they lifted her onto her feet, gasping as she realized who she was, too.

"Mother!" Marth cried out, wrapping her arms around her. She broke into sobs, holding her mother tighter than she ever could.

"Mother! I don't want to go, mother!" she said. "I didn't want to leave!"

Her mother held within her arms, gently running her hand through her hair. She stayed silent as she brought Marth's head to her chest, wiping the tears that fell. 

"I—" Marth said as she sniffled, "I still need to get back to father! I want to see father!"

Her mother pulled her away, lifting her arm and pointing below. She nodded her head, hugging her one last time before she sent her off. Marth wiped her tears as she hugged back, nodding as well before she ran down the staircase to chase her father once more. Her mother disappeared into the darkness as the floor started to crack again. Marth closed her eyes, wiping another tear as she kept going.

Down below, she could see her father walking down the steps of unbroken light, drawing nearer to the base. Narrowing her eyes, she chased him faster than she did before. She did so in spite of her weariness, in spite of the fact each step she took sent her further and further away from where she was supposed to go. She wished to see him so much that she jumped off the staircase, landing on the flight below before jumping down again. She jumped down flight after flight after flight until she finally landed on the steps behind her father, shattering the spiral pillar of light that chased her into a million pieces.

Marth picked herself up and rushed straight towards him. "Don't leave me father!" Tears streamed off her face again as ehe reached her hand out, grasping at his white cape so she could hold onto it again. Onto him again.

But just like before, a wall stood between the two of them. She was stopped from reaching him again, being pushed away each time she tried to push her hand through it. 

"No! It can't be like this!" Marth banged on the wall, hopelessly trying to break it down. "Father! Father!" 

She banged and banged upon the barrier with all her might before grabbing her sword and driving it into it. But the blade bounced clean off, doing nothing to pierce the barrier between them. Nothing was working. All she could do was call for her father over and over, desperately wanting him back.

Her father turned back around, his head still hanging low as he shook it again. He lifted his head to face the world above as a black mist formed around him, slithering onto his body. Starting from the left side, his arm disintegrated piece by piece into black dust. It then made its way to his chest, and it vanished, too. He shook his head once last time as the mist reached his face, before his whole body scattered to the wind, leaving nothing behind.

The wall finally broke, bringing Marth to her knees. Light fell like broken glass around her as she laid her hands upon the ground. They tightened into fists as her tears pooled on the floor, with Lucina choking out a sob over losing her father again.

Another set of footsteps came from behind as Marth. Whoever approached her carried a soft, white light, one gentle and holding a faint warmth. They walked over to where she kneeled and sat down beside her, hugging their knees for just a moment before she reached forward and wrapped her arms over Marth's shoulders. She turned to see that it was a girl who hugged her, whose light shined brighter as she tightened the hug. She pulled Marth back, letting her rest her knees as she lifted her head and wiped away the newly-made tears.

Marth reached for the girl's head, hugging her as tight as the girl did herself. She grabbed her hand, keeping it held within hers as they stared ahead, where nothing greeted them but the darkness below. The silhouette seemed to giggle, rubbing Marth's cheek with her finger as she sat even closer to her.

But then the pillar started to shake again, pulling Marth away from the girl as both of them fell away from another. The girl fell onto the step behind her as Marth fell forwards, seeing the floor beneath her crack again. Her eyes widened as she looked back at the girl, reaching out for her as both struggled to get to the other.

But when the girls could finally take each other's hand, the floor gave way.

Marth grasped for her right before she fell, calling out for her as she watched her lean over the side of the staircase, still trying to reach for her.

Now Marth was alone as she hurled down into the darkness, falling headfirst just like before.

A blue light flickered in the distance, thin as a line. A second light joined it as both darted all around, shifting from blue into a dark red. They grew into wide circles as the darkness beneath them opened up like a cave, where a black and red light seeped forth. The pair of lights swarmed around as if they were looking for someone, before finally landing on Marth, narrowing at the sight of her.

"Fool… Did you think you were ever safe from me?"

The lights slithered forward, squarely meeting Marth's face with a sudden stop. It spoke to her, sounding just like a demon would.

"I've said this many times before, yet these words will always hold true."

Marth locked eyes with the monster as fear shivered down her spine. "No! Gods, no!" This wasn't supposed to happen! He wasn't supposed to be here!

The lights craned backwards as the monster's rasp echoed throughout the dark void. "So long as avarice lurks still in the hearts of men…"

The monster trailed off as it began to laugh to itself, its eyes changing to a fell purple. Then it cut its laugh short as it let out an earth-shattering roar, baring its pitch black fangs. It sneered at her, rising upwards before diving downwards with all its might.

"No! Stay back!"

Marth braced herself as the monster shot back up into the air, rising higher and rushing faster. The monster bared its fangs and let out another demonic roar as it looked down at Marth again, rushing straight at her. As it came to take her life, it laughed.

She screamed.

* * *

"Ahh!"

She shot upwards out of her bed, her breathing heavy enough to fill the room. She lowered her hands on top of the blanket, seeing the pair of them shake intensely as she closed them. Bringing them to her shoulders, she hugged herself as she sat herself upright.

Three times. That was how many times she's dreamt that nightmare. They started differently each time, but they always ended the same way. Something would happen and then she would fall, and then that demon would come for her life.

She grabbed the tall glass of water on the table next to her bed, drinking the entirety of it in one go. She took several deep breaths, calming herself down before a ray of sunlight hit her in the eye. Leaning her head out of the way, she followed the ray to where it led; to the mirror on the eastern wall of the bedroom.

Getting out of the bed she'd slept in, she got up and went over to the mirror. And there she saw herself. Not the mask she wore, nor the role she attempted to play. Both were discarded the day she did what she had to do. 

Thus, there was no more need for Marth. Now she was just… herself.

Lucina.

Lucina looked up and down the mirror, staring at her reflection. The outfit she'd worn everyday as Marth had been tossed to the front of her bed. She replaced it with a simpler set of pajamas. A long-sleeved blue shirt and gray sleeping pants. Without a mask to hide her identity, her eyes were no logn. Now she could see the blue in her irises, and the white Brand that hid within her right.

Lucina looked away from herself, staring at the calendar next to the mirror. "March 23…" she muttered. So ten days since she saved Emmeryn's life. And nine since she came to this inn.

Reaching for the back of her head, Lucina grabbed the braids of hair hiding themselves and unravelled them one by one. She undid the illusion of short hair she used to solidify her identity as a boy named Marth, letting her locks of hair flow down and reach past her neck.

Well, she could not afford to rest when she still had more to do. Lucina changed her clothes and went out the door, getting straight to work.

* * *

Leaving the inn, Lucina made her way into a bar in the northern outskirts of Iris. Although she'd never been inside a place like this, she did know this was a good place as any to first go for information as she once was taught. Stepping inside the building, she made her way to the counter and took her seat, waiting for the bartender to come to her.

"Are you looking for something, young ma'am?" the bartender said, putting his hands on the table as he arrived.

"Yes, I am," she answered. "Have you seen any dark mages around here?"

"I was going to suggest something to drink, but okay." The bartender looked up, scratching his beard. "A dark mage, huh? Sorry, but I don't think I've seen or heard anyone like that around here. You're a bit out of luck."

"I see," Lucina said. If the assassin who led the attack on the capital was still alive, then his trail was cold at this point. She searched for him immediately after she left the palace in hopes of cutting him down, and still could not find him to this day. If they met again, she'd make sure to fix her mistake.

Lucina huffed in frustration as she dug through her bag. Pulling out a small slip of paper, she set it down on the table and wrote several names upon it.

"What about any of the names on this list? Can you recall having heard of any of them?" 

"Hmm, let me see this," the bartender said. She passed the paper to him as he leaned forward and squinted, looking at it thoroughly. 

"Nah, never heard of her. And I can't say I know the others either."

"Tch." Lucina clicked her tongue, drumming her wrist on the counter. "Can I at least buy the least expensive meal available?"

"Sure thing," the bartender said, leaving for the kitchen.

Lucina rested her elbow on the table and huffed again. She still had no leads on either that assassin or her friends. Maybe it was time to head out somewhere else in search of them. She'd been dawdling for too long anyways. 

She waited for the bartender to return with her meal when the entrance bell rang behind her. 

"Excuse me, is anyone here?"

Hang on, Marth thought as she furled her brows. She'd recognize that voice from a mile away.

"Does my vision deceive me?" the person behind her said enthusiastically. "Surely that cannot be my dear, sweet cousin?"

"Owain?" Lucina said, turning around and gasping as she saw his bright green eyes and short, spiky hair. 

"Ah- Owain!" She smiled as she raced over to him, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. 

"I can't believe you're here!" she said, looking up at him. "I've been looking for you!"

"So have I!" he said, giving Lucina a hug back. 

She pulled herself away, overjoyed that he was here. "How'd you find me?"

"Listen well, my stalwart ally! For it is a tale of a long journey that spans many days!" Owain said as sweeped his hand across himself.

The bartender returned, looking squarely at Owain with a raised brow. "Hey, are you some kind of live-action roleplayer? Because I'm not opposed to it, but can you turn it down?" 

"Sorry!" Owain said in a hushed voice. "Let's go sit down."

The pair of cousins took their seats next to the bar table, facing one another as Lucina took her plate from the bartender. She looked back at her cousin and smiled again. With another, happy huff of breath, she leaned forwards, hugging him for a second time.

"You've really missed me, huh?" Owain said, taking the hug in stride and returning the gesture with the same affection.

"Of course I do. Everyone's been gone since we made it to Ylisse." Lucina looked down, holding him tighter. "When we got separated, I wasn't sure if we'd meet up again. Nah, Laurent, Yarne, and everyone else is missing."

Lucina pulled herself away from him again as she lifted her head up. "Did you find Severa? What about Brady?"

"Sadly, no. I didn't see either of our siblings when I landed." Owain shook his head. "And if you didn't land with any of them, then both our family and our friends are still missing."

"I just hope they're somewhere safe," Lucina said, putting a hand to her head. "I thought after everyone showed up at Mount Prism, we wouldn't have split again."

"Yeah," Owain said, glancing at the bartender cleaning his drinking glasses. He pinched Lucina's shirt and tugged on it, pulling her away from her lunch and taking her to the table in the back corner of the bar.

"We really should keep quiet about things involving future stuff in front of people, you know?" he whispered as he took his seat. He leaned forwards, checking to see that the bartender paid no attention to them.

When the bartender headed back into the kitchen, Owain spoke again. "But you're right about wanting to stick together. I was hoping the same. We all were, but then those Risen chasing after us threw everything off tracks."

"Do you think we'll see any of them again?" Lucina asked. "I haven't seen a single one of them until you showed up. We don't even know where they are at this point."

"Hey, of course they'll show up," Owain said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We all said we'd be in this together. So maybe they're not here yet, but it's going to be alright. We'll find them along the way eventually, and when we have the chance, we can even go looking for them."

"You really think so?" Lucina said.

"Hmph." Owain grinned. "Of course, my dear lady! An aspiring hero never goes back on his words! Together you and I will find our fated comrades and reform the union that binds us together!" He brought one hand to his chest and brought the other towards her. "So fret no longer, promise that for me!"

"Thank you, Owain." Lucina covered her mouth and nose as she snickered and giggled. "How did you become so entertaining?"

"Practice, Lucina! Practice!" Owain stated. "Just as a swordsman swings their blade daily, so too must I practice my talents to refine them and take them to new levels! And the same must be said for you if you are to master your craft as a performer!"

Lucina giggled even louder, leaning back into her chair. "I still don't think I could act as well as you think I can."

"Nonsense!" Owain lifted his fist up. "There is talent in you, my cousin, and I will see to it that it is drawn out! Everyone has the ability to do what they set out for with enough training and learning! And since we have both reunited with another, the world has provided us with an opportunity of the ages! So come, my ally. Follow my footsteps, and I shall teach you all I know!"

Owain lowered his hand back to his stomach and laughed nervously. "Err, that's if you're okay with that. You're still okay with that right?"

"With learning how to act?" Lucina said, giggling for a third time.

"Please say yes I need someone to practice my lines with."

"If that's what you wish, I suppose I could try to help out," Lucina said. "For your sake at least."

"Great!" Owain brought his fist up, pumping it as he grinned triumphantly. "Then we shall get started in the distant future. But first, I believe there are matters to discuss."

Lucina nodded. "Right, so what happened to you when we got separated?"

"I landed not too long ago," he said. "It was March 6th, just after midnight."

"And I landed hours before them. So then we didn't get separated too far from one another."

"Seems so," Owain said. "But I got sent somewhere in the northern region of Ylisse, and that was a cold day. The village I landed in was so close to the Longfort; the whole place was snowing when I landed."

"I see, but I landed in South Ylisse like we were supposed to. Right in front of my father and your mom, err, Lissa," Lucina said. She grabbed her chin, scratching it with the side of her thumb. "So maybe the others landed at the same time as us, but in different parts of the world."

"That could be true, we'll—" Owain cut himself short as his eyes widened. "Wait, you saw our parents?"

He lurched forwards as he hit the table with both hands, grinning excitedly. "Aww, come on! If you saw them then you gotta tell me!"

"Oh, umm, yeah," Lucina said, scratching the back of her head.

"That must've been so exciting! What were they like? Were they like how they used to be?"

Lucina looked down at the table. "They're younger than they were in our time, but they're every bit as wonderful as I remember. Although I tried my best to avoid interacting with them as much as I could, as to not alter the course of history more than necessary."

"Are you sure about that, Lucina?" Owain said. "I mean, I also want to see my parents, you know. And everyone else as well. I know we're still busy with fixing the future, but this is the time to finally see them all again after so much has happened." 

"I couldn't risk doing something that would threaten the safety of the future. What would happen if either of our parents didn't get together because of my actions? Would we suddenly cease to exist? And I already changed the future enough just by being around them," Lucina said. "I'm sorry, but I could not allow myself to stay."

"...Well, I mean…" Owain put his hand on his forehead. "When you put it like that, I guess your point still makes sense. But still…"

He put his hand back down, looking closely at her face. "Hey wait, where'd your mask go?"

"It broke when I saved my father from the assassin who attacked him. The day Aunt Emmeryn was supposed to be killed," she answered. "Speaking of which, I didn't see you there at all that day. Where were you?"

"I tried to reach the palace as fast as I could, but I only arrived as soon as the battle started," Owain said. "I ended up fighting some of the assassins that were outside of the city, but by the time I entered, the battle was already over."

"...So then you saved her, right?" he added.

Lucina nodded her head. "I managed to stop the sorcerer that took Emmeryn's life in our timeline, although he escaped before I could finish him off for good. I'm not sure whether he remains alive or not at this point. I've been searching for him since."

"I think that whether he's alive or not, hunting for him may not do us anything good at this point," Owain said, glancing to the side.

"What do you mean?" Lucina said. "Isn't he important? What if he comes back to kill her again?"

"We kinda have a bigger problem to deal with." Owain leaned closer to her, his smile long gone.

"Emmeryn didn't show up to the Eastern Palace."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment that seemed like forever. 

"What?" Lucina said.

"I overheard a couple of servants talking about it," Owain said, rubbing the back of his head. "Neither she, the Shepherds, or the Pegasus Knights made it there. And while the whole palace's been trying to keep it under wraps, they've been panicking ever since."

"That doesn't make sense," she said. "Where is she? She should be there. Why isn't she there?"

"I don't know! But the fact is she _isn't_ where she's supposed to be," Owain said. 

"Then where is she?!"

Lucina put her elbows on the table and dug her fingers into her scalp. Why is this happening? Wasn't this how the story went? Emmeryn died in her time thanks the assassination attempt on her life, so why did she get kidnapped after she rescued her?

"I did hear something else," Owain said. "One of the butlers said the attack might've come from Gangrel. He said a friend of his saw a Plegian rider flying towards the west. She could've been taken to Plegia, and most likely to the capital."

"Then we have to go there and bring her back!" Lucina hit the table and got out of her seat, walking away only to be stopped by a sudden of her hand as Owain leaned out of his seat.

"Woah!" Owain said, trying to pull her back. "Lucina, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going straight to Plegia," she answered. "We can't let her lose her life! She's too important!" 

"Yeah, but you can't just go in wildly! We don't even know how we're going to get there!" 

Owain pulled her further back. "At least eat your lunch first. Please? You're gonna be hungry if you don't."

Lucina balled her hand into a fist, looking back at him as her stomach grumbled almost on cue, reaffirming his argument. "Fine," she said, giving an exasperated sigh as she turned away from the door. 

She went back to the bar table where her meal still waited, taking her seat and cutting into her eggs.

The bartender returned from the kitchen, walking over to her side. "Hey kiddo, why the long face?" He waited for a moment, scratching his neck before adding, "I overheard you talking about having to save someone."

Lucina tightened her jaw, looking down at her plate as she scooped some eggs into her mouth. 

"Is it a bandit situation?" he asked. "We've been dealing with a lot of them lately, so it isn't too out of the ordinary to see another case of kidnapping crop up."

"Sort of," Lucina answered quietly. "My cousin and I need to rescue a friend of ours, you could say."

"Be careful out there if it's anywhere near the western border. People have been talking about skirmishes between the Ylissean Knights and the Plegian army recently. You don't want to get yourselves caught in the crossfire if it's true."

"I'm afraid it's a little further west than that. We'll have to enter Plegia ourselves if we want to get to her," Lucina said.

"Yeah, it's kind of a bad situation, you see?" Owain added as he stepped over to them. "I heard about those skirmishes earlier, too. We'd probably have an easier time getting her back if we didn't have to worry about them."

"I feel the same way," the bartender said. "My friend wants me to run his inn within Plegia's capital while he's away, but now I'm not sure how tough it'll be to get there in the first place. And that's not even considering the weather itself." 

"Yeah, but we can't let the weather stop us," Owain said. "We gotta save our friend no matter how hot or cold it is. As soon as we finish up here, we're gonna start heading out."

"Hmm, how about a ride, then?" the bartender offered. "We're travelling the same way, and if there's a kidnapping going on, then I'd rather help than not. I can at least let you hitch a ride until we need to split up. So how 'bout it?"

Lucina lifted her head, looking at Owain who looked back at her. "Do you think it's a good idea?"

"We'd get there faster and we wouldn't have to walk as long," Owain said. "Plus, having another person with us could make things easier while he's still around. I think we should go with it, but it should be your call."

Owain was right that taking his offer would be better for them in the short term, though doing that could potentially drag this man into their attempt to rescue Emmeryn. And that presents its own set of problems. He could be hurt or killed on their behalf if something went south, or something could slip and he could figure out they travelled to the past from the future. Even something as small as just journeying with him could cause greater changes down the line, and she had to be careful about that.

But their options were limited, and getting there quicker was better than getting there late. It was clear that protecting Emmeryn once wasn't enough to truly keep her safe. Ylisse needs her alive in order to end this war.

"Okay, we'll go with you. Thank you sir," Lucina said.

"Great," he said, giving a thumbs up. "Just let me set things up with my daughter. I'll need to leave her in charge while I'm gone."

The bartender headed back into the kitchen, leaving Lucina with just Owain. She held her head down, still in a stir over the news.

But she knew what she was going to do. She was going to save Emmeryn by any means necessary. The world cannot fall to darkness for a second time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, Marth! We missed you! She's back! She's back!
> 
> It was tough getting back to writing her. I haven't written her in months! But I hope I did well. 
> 
> Anna, Kellam and Lon'qu, your brief time in Lucina's dream sequence was quite entertaining to write. I especially loved Lon'qu and Kellam here and just how strange they were here. Anna was fun too, namely because of the weird contrast between the happy nature and the creepy factor I wanted to go for.
> 
> Hi Owain! And you strange bartender man. Who are you? And what secrets do you hold?
> 
> It was fun introducing Owain into the proper story! He is, wonderful to write and I'm happy he's no longer a flashback character.
> 
> As for the bartender, if it wasn't clear, he is the same guy who helped out the Shepherds. Reese, he's been a fun character of sorts. I like that he isn't completely involved with the Shepherds, but he supports them anyways. I wonder what his deal is. He's kind of like a reverse Anna at this point.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Genderneutralnoun, Tyrux, SoftandHappy, Morskijez, and Mixedvalence, for helping to beta some chapters and scenes. I'm really thankful for everyone who's helped me along the way.


End file.
